Staff report

Gasoline pump prices in Texas rose 1.1 cents last week, and at least one energy expert believes the state has already experienced what will be the lowest prices for the year.

Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum for GasBuddy, an online consumer website, said what’s pumped in your gas tank is tied to the price for a barrel of oil.

“With oil prices back over $50 a barrel, it looks like gas prices in more areas may soon bottom out and start to tick higher,” he said. “While it doesn’t seem that prices will rise very far, it looks more and more like the lowest price of the year may now be behind us.”

The price of a barrel of oil was $51.04 around 1 p.m. Monday.

DeHaan said the national average price for a gallon on gas was at $2.22 last week, but that number is expected to rise. In Texas, the average price moved up to $1.92 per gallon on Sunday.

In Jefferson County, gas prices were at an average of $1.902 Monday.