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Local gas prices, rising all year, still going up

Don't wait to fill that tank.

Don't wait to fill that tank.

Prices will keep heading higher, analysts say.

In the Philadelphia area, the average for regular unleaded could hit $2 a gallon any day, and the national average might hit $2.50 by spring - despite apparently lower crude-oil prices.

Today, the average for Philadelphia and its surrounding Pennsylvania counties is $1.99 a gallon, a price reached for the first time this year over the weekend, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

That's up 30 cents from Jan. 1, when prices hit their lowest point in nearly five years.

This morning, dozens of Southeastern Pennsylvania stations were already charging $2 a gallon or more, with a low of $1.86 at a Route 322 Sunoco in Aston, according to Phillygasprices.com.

Today's South Jersey's average was $1.78 - 34 cents higher than the almost-five-year low of $1.44 reached on Jan 1.This morning, the cheapest for regular was $1.58 a gallon at a Woodbury Lukoil on Hurffville Road.

Gas is cheaper in South Jersey mostly because gas taxes are lower.

Nationally, prices have steadily risen since reaching a five-year low of $1.61 on Dec. 30.

That's 35 cents lower than Friday's national average.

Quoted crude-oil price have been falling, but that data is a bit misleading, analysts say.

The benchmark used is the price of West Texas crude, but most gasoline sold in the United States is refined from higher-priced crude that comes from other sources, including other states, Canada, the North Sea, Saudia Arabia and South America.