According to the Iowa Department of Agriculture, all but one of their tracked fuels climbed by at least 40 cents since last week. As of Wednesday, March 9, the price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $3.89 in Iowa. This is 46 cents higher than last week and $1.12 higher than one year ago. The national average topped $4.25 per gallon, a 57-cent increase. Retail diesel soared 75 cents in just seven days to a statewide average of $4.57. That’s $1.52 higher than last year but still 31 cents lower than the national average of $4.88 per gallon. Wholesale ethanol was unchanged at $2.16 per gallon. As for home fuels, propane jumped 11 cents to $2.14 per gallon, heating oil was up 72 cents to $4.11 per gallon, and natural gas fell 25 cents at the Henry Hub reporting site to $4.25 per MMBtu.
