STAFF REPORT

The price at the gas pump continues to go up, inching ever closer again to the $4 a gallon mark.

Over the past month, the average price of regular gas has shot up an average of 13 cents in Vermont to $3.74 a gallon in early February, according to the state’s monthly fuel price report.

A year ago the average price was $3.80 a gallon.

On Monday, VermontGasPrices.com reported on its website that the Shell station in Killington and the Jay Country Store in Jay tied for the highest price in the state at $3.99 a gallon. The cheapest gas was $3.69 a gallon at the Stewart’s Shops store on Woodstock Avenue in Rutland.

Heating oil averaged $3.944 a gallon this month, nearly 10 cents a gallon higher than in January, the Department of Public Service reported in its monthly survey.

The price of gasoline and other fuel products are tracking the increase in crude oil prices.

According to the federal Energy Information Administration, the price of crude oil was $119 a barrel early this month, up from an average of $112 a barrel last year.

Despite the uptick in prices, the EIA is forecasting gas prices will come down.

The EIA is forecasting that falling crude prices will lead to a drop in the national annual average regular gasoline price from $3.63 a gallon last year to $3.55 a gallon in 2013. For 2014, the EIA is predicting gasoline will average $3.39 a gallon.

The EIA forecast is for diesel fuel prices to average $3.92 a gallon this year, 5 cents less than last year.