Gas prices keep rising in New Jersey, across nation

NEW JERSEY (FOX 29) - Gas prices are beginning the spring with a surge that has motorists digging deeper at the pump, but they aren't expected to reach the highs of last spring.

Prices are up by an average of 20 cents per gallon over the past month.

Back in the day, gas prices in South Jersey used to average more than 20 cents a gallon cheaper than Pa, making it worth the trip across the bridge under the right circumstances. Now, since the Garden State gas tax increase of 2017, the difference is barely 15 cents a gallon.

So why are gas prices up over the past month? The simple answer is that the cost of crude oil is up by more than 10% over that period and unrest in oil-producing Venezuela is part of that equation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.