VALDOSTA — Gasoline prices in Valdosta inched upward over the last week, according to statistics.

The average price of unleaded automotive fuel in the city Sunday was $2.04 a gallon, up a penny from the previous week, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The lowest price in Valdosta Sunday was $1.91 at two retailers along U.S. 84 / West Hill Avenue, according to the price tracking website gasbuddy.com. The highest price was $2.79 at a store on North Patterson Street, gasbuddy said.

Gasbuddy also listed 33 retailers in Valdosta carrying gasoline for under $2 a gallon. Throughout most of the first half of 2017, no stores in Lowndes County were listed on the website as having gas under $2.

Nationally, the upward trend continued Sunday, with fuel averaging $2.26 across the U.S., up from $2.23 seven days earlier, AAA said. Over the same period, the average gasoline price in Georgia rose from $2.08 to $2.12, according to the auto club.

In Friday market action, benchmark U.S. crude oil lost $1.29, or 2.8 percent, to $44.23 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell $1.40, or 2.9 percent, to $46.71 per barrel in London. Analysts said investors are focused on the strong increase in U.S. production in Thursday’s energy supply report. Hess fell $1.04, or 2.4 percent, to $41.79 and Devon Energy gave up 64 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $29.54.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.