VALDOSTA — Valdosta had some of the highest gas prices in the state Wednesday, the day Georgia reimposed its gas tax.

The Azalea City’s average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.98, up nine cents from a week earlier, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The lowest price reported in Valdosta was $2.74 at stores on Bemiss Road and Inner Perimeter Road, according to the price tracking website gasbuddy.com.

Valdosta had the third highest average gas price among the 15 Georgia markets surveyed by the auto club — beneath Savannah and Brunswick but higher than Warner Robins, Rome, Macon, Hinesville, Gainesville, Dalton, Columbus, Catoosa, Augusta, Atlanta, Athens and Albany.

In March, Gov. Brian Kemp suspended Georgia’s 29.1 cent per gallon tax on motor fuel at a time when petroleum prices were soaring thanks to the Russia-Ukraine war. He extended the suspension through the holidays but the extension ran out Wednesday.

The tax is used to fund state and local road projects.

Nationally, the average price of gasoline was $3.27 per gallon, unchanged in a week, while Georgia’s average of $2.88 per gallon was up seven cents in the same period, AAA said.

“As we head toward February, pump prices will likely dip, barring any jolt in the global oil market,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “But it is likely that the national average prices we saw heading in to Christmas may have been the lows for this winter.”

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude sank 71 cents to $74.41 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 49 cents to $75.12 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 70 cents to $79.40 a barrel.