Georgia gas prices up six cents a gallon; up 71 cents vs. a year ago.

Media release: Crude prices were able to sustain their upward momentum last week as talks of a plan to resolve Europe's debt crisis continue. The plan involves more than $1 trillion to bailout Greece and provides banks with much needed funds. Although though the final plan has not been drafted, one is expected to be finalized later this week.

Other positive news helped keep the upward momentum on oil prices after the Energy Department released reports that showed U.S. fuel demand for diesel rose 2.5 percent in September with growth in the manufacturing sector. U.S. inventories of crude oil fell by 4.7 million barrels to 333 million—the lowest level since February of 2010. The positive news gave crude oil a slight boost in price for a settlement Friday of $87.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange--60 cents more than the week prior.

"Until a final plan is reached by European leaders, it looks as if the market will continue to use 'talks' of a plan to hold onto any optimism that Europe's debt issues are nearing an end," said Jessica Brady, AAA spokesperson, The Auto Club Group. "Although crude prices have increased, they are doing so in very small increments, meaning there really isn't enough positive news in the market to give oil prices a major boost.

"Retail gas prices continue to inch up as well although it looks like the rate of increase has started to slow. Prices are likely to continue their upward trend through the remainder of October until news is released on whether or not agreements were made and a final plan presented for Europe's bailout."

The national average price of unleaded regular gasoline is $3.45 a gallon, the same as last week. Florida's average price of $3.46 is 4 cents more than last week, while Georgia's average price of $3.40 is 6 cents more than last week. Tennessee's average price of $3.30 increased 3 cents from last week, respectively.

CURRENT AND PAST PRICE AVERAGES

Regular Unleaded Gasoline

                                    Current           Week Ago      Month Ago     Year Ago

National:                    $3.456         $3.457                  $3.540              $2.821

Florida:                      $3.460          $3.425                  $3.498              $2.810

Georgia:                     $3.408          $3.347                  $3.394             $2.701

Tennessee:                $3.306          $3.279                   $3.338            $2.661

AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report is updated each day and reflects actual prices from credit card transactions within the past 24 hours at two-thirds (100,000) gasoline stations in the U.S. Its accuracy is unparalleled.