Wow, that didn’t take long.

After a couple of weeks edging downward, the price of gasoline is creeping back up again.

According to the latest data compiled and released by AAA of Michigan, the price of a gallon of unleaded regular shot up 13 cents last week.

You’ll pay well over $4 per gallon pretty much everywhere in Superiorland these days.

Although the cause of this latest hike is unclear, as a general proposition, determining how gasoline is priced is similar to herding chickens: easy to talk about, hard to actually do.

It often comes as a major surprise to many to learn that the price of gasoline is unregulated.

The additives and other ingredients in gas are, on the other hand, heaving regulated.

Certainly, major problems with refineries do play a role in what you pay at the pump. And the price and supplies of crude oil, both domestically and around the world, must also be taken into consideration.

Market forces are important. How much wholesalers and retailers believe local motorists will pay is an important component, too.

Put another way, there is little motorists can actually do to influence what gasoline costs, other than careful shopping and conservation.

The summer tourist season has largely finished in most places in the Upper Peninsula. The fall color season is also important but it doesn’t have the overall impact that summer tourism has.

Our advice to readers? Drive when you have to but if you don’t have to, give your vehicle a rest. We’re betting once the midterms come and go in November, the price of gas will start to fall again.