Denver gas prices surged 16.6 cents per gallon last week, but one expert said the public should not blame the hike on a recent diesel mix-up that damaged hundreds of vehicles and contaminated nearly 50 gas stations.

“No, it has no impact on price,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.com, told The Denver Gazette in an email when asked if the contaminated fuel played a role in the recent price uptick.

The Jan. 7 contaminated gas fiasco may have impacted up to 400,000 gallons. It has resulted in a class action lawsuit.

De Haan said the increase is more likely due to a “price cycle,” which he said is common in areas of Colorado every one to three weeks. This happens when the gas prices drop slowly for a week or two, then shoot way back up, De Haan said.

Denver gas prices sat at $2.37 per gallon to start the week, according to GasBuddy’s analysis of 844 stations in the Mile High City. That’s about 6.7 cents higher than a month ago and 41.3 cents per gallon cheaper than this time last year.

The cheapest gas in Denver was $1.93 on Sunday and the most expensive was $2.99 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

The statewide average last week finished at $2.41 per gallon, up 10.9 cents from the previous week, the gas price website said.

Nationally, gas prices ticked up 3.1 cents per gallon last week to finish at $2.76 per gallon.

“After seven straight weeks of declines, the national average price of gasoline has moved higher, breaking the streak as oil prices have climbed back near $60 per barrel after dipping into the mid-$50s,” De Haan said in a news release.

But De Haan said gas prices could still dip again soon. Right now, gas suppliers have a surplus of winter blend gasoline, which may need to be discounted to make way for summer blend gasoline in the coming weeks, he said.

“There’s still a window of opportunity to revisit — or even beat — recent gas price lows, but that window will begin to close soon,” De Haan said.