Could Gas Prices Reach $5 A Gallon In Chicago?
CHICAGO (CBS) - If you've been driving throughout the Chicago area, you know gas prices are jumping. But experts predict the worst is yet to come.
One former oil executive said we could see $5 a gallon in the next year.
CBS 2's Jim Williams reports why we're seeing higher gas prices, and how Chicagoans are reacting.
Gas prices are at their highest level in more than two years. In Chicago, it's more than $3 a gallon.
We may soon look back at this time as the "good old days."
Eboni Tankersley used to consider gas a minor expense. Not anymore.
"I have to budget for it like it's a real bill, not like oh, $20 to fill up my tank," she said. "Now $40 doesn't even fill up my tank. It's closer to $50, $60."
And going higher. The average price for a gallon of gas here in Chicago has jumped 10 cents in a week.
Elizabeth Carioscia said it's a shock to the system.
"We were getting used to $3 or less," she said. "And it'll probably keep going up, as it usually does."
But going up $5 a gallon? Because of higher demand for oil around the world, the former president of Shell Oil thinks gas could hit that dreaded mark in 2012.
"That's ridiculous, isn't it now?" asked driver Ty Fujimura.
"I'm so tired of paying this much for gas," said Tankersley.
According to Chicago oil trader Dan Flynn, you can also blame pipeline outages and a refinery explosion in St. Croix.
But he does not think gas will go to $5 a gallon. He predicts the prices will stop rising by summer.
"We're swimming in supply," said Flynn. "It's just a matter of getting supply to the consumer."
Four dollars a gallon is more likely, Flynn believes. Still, that's enough to make drivers like Eboni Tankersley think of alternative ways to get around.
"See, that's when I start riding the bus or my bike," she said, laughing. "Lose a little weight, save a little money."
Tankersley said she gets a little gas in Chicago, then drives to Northwest Indiana, where prices are cheaper.
Now a little perspective: it could be worse. In parts of Europe, like the Netherlands and Norway, gas is more than $6 a gallon.
