Here's a record you don't want to see: Highest-ever gas prices

At some Greencastle gas stations Wednesday, regular unleaded was selling for $4.29 per gallon. At others it was $4.28. And a few offered a price break at $4.24.

Regardless, however, by all accounts gasoline prices in Greencastle have now reached an all-time high.

Average Indiana gas prices first reached an all-time high at $4.19 Tuesday, and then inched even higher to a record $4.251 Wednesday morning. 


Previous records were established in July 2008 when gas prices hit $4.15 in Indiana.

At this time a year ago, gasoline prices ranged from $2.883 to $2.835, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.

That means the average cost to fuel a vehicle with a 16-gallon tank is $68.64, compared to $46.16 last year.

"Gasoline prices have climbed steadily since the beginning of the year and reached record-high levels today," a statement provided Wednesday by Beth Mosher, director of public affairs for AAA Chicago, noted. "Consumers can get better bang for their gasoline bucks by slowing down, ensuring their tires are properly inflated and consolidating their errands."

The latest price of gasoline even surpasses that of diesel, which was at $4.247 on average Wednesday morning. Diesel fuel had been higher for a while than regular gasoline. 


Indiana joined five other states -- Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Hawaii and West Virginia -- in reaching a record per-gallon price above the levels set in 2008.

Two other Great Lakes states, Minnesota and Wisconsin, are within an eyelash of beating their 2008 records.

Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan also hit high-water marks on Tuesday. West Virginia inched above its 2008 record on Wednesday, with the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline edging above $4.15, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report noted. Hawaii first exceeded its all-time high April 20.

Instability in the Middle East has been blamed for the rise in prices nationally. However, the price rise in the Midwest is more the product of a confluence of events closer to home over the past week: Production problems at two refineries; tornado-related power outages at seven refineries in Texas, Alabama and Pennsylvania; flooding along the Mississippi River and elsewhere that has kept barges from reaching the upper Midwest; and the refineries' seasonal switchover from winter-blend to summer-blend fuels.

"This is the perfect storm," a AAA spokesman said. "These factors on their own would have created slight price increases."