PROVIDENCE – “For the second consecutive week, the average price of gasoline in Rhode Island has risen,” Lloyd P. Alpert, AAA Southern New England’s senior vice president for public and government affairs, wrote in the group’s weekly fuel-price report.

The auto club’s Jan. 12 survey found that self-serve, unleaded regular was selling for an average of $1.749 per gallon at Ocean State stations. That represented an increase of 8 cents over the past week and 10 cents since Dec. 29. (READ MORE) But it was still $2.36 less than July’s record high of $4.109 per gallon and $1.37 less than Rhode Island’s year-ago price of $3.119.

In neighboring Massachusetts, gasoline prices rose for the first time since the middle of September. The average self-serve price of unleaded regular rose 7 cents – after holding steady for two weeks at $1.629 per gallon – to $1.699 per gallon in today’s survey. But that was still $2.39 below July’s record high of $4.089 per gallon and $1.36 below the Bay State’s year-ago average of $3.059.

Nationwide today, self-serve regular was selling for an average $1.799 per gallon, or 12 cents more than the $1.679 average in AAA’s Jan. 5 survey.

Meanwhile, at Rhode Island stations today, the range in self-serve prices for unleaded regular narrowed to 14 cents from last week’s 24 cents; prices ranged from a low of $1.699 to a high of $1.839. Wider ranges were seen for other grades of fuel, which had average self-serve prices of $1.869 per gallon for midgrade unleaded (up 6 cents per gallon), $1.999 for premium unleaded gasoline (also up 6 cents) and $2.589 for diesel (unchanged from Jan. 5).

AAA Southern New England is a nonprofit auto club providing travel, insurance, finance and auto-related services to more than 2 million local members with 34 offices in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. To find the most up-to-date self-service and full-service gasoline prices in a given area, go to www.AAA.com and click on Gas Saving Tips & Tools.