Chicagoans Labor Under Higher Gas Prices As Holiday Weekend Nears
CHICAGO (CBS) – Oil prices are down, but gas prices in Chicago are still going up.
The average price for gasoline in Chicago is $3.96 per gallon, according to the Triple A. Yet the national average is $3.61.
Gas prices in Chicago are higher than they were a week ago. That stings.
What gives in Chicago?
"I really thought prices were on their way back down. In the rest of the country, they were starting to break," says market analyst Phil Flynn, a FOX Business Network contributor. "And here in Chicago we lost a couple of refineries."
Flynn says that hurts when only a few make the Chicago summer blend.
Then add Hurricane Irene to the mix. Flynn says the hurricane shut down one of the biggest import terminals for oil and gas, causing a price hike.
"Some of that's going to go away because luckily enough there wasn't as much damage as feared," he said.
What won't go away: gas taxes. Chicago has some of the highest in the country.
The unemployed Kim Anderson is going to re-visit her family's Labor Day plans.
"We were planning a trip this weekend and I was debating on whether we were or not we were going to go ahead and do that," she said.
There is some good news for 1.6 million Illinois drivers during the big travel weekend ahead. Flynn doesn't think gas prices are going to go much higher.
He says it's very possible station owners hoping to drive business to their convenience stores might bring gas prices down.
