'There Doesn't Appear To Be A Top In Sight': Gas Prices Could Continue To Spike, Experts Say
EAGAN, Minn. (WCCO) - As the weekend nears and the weather warms, you're probably feeling the itch to head to the lake. But the price at the pump means every mile is going to cost you way more than it did last summer.
The national average for gas jumped to $4.71 a gallon, and experts say it's not slowing down.
Thursday morning, the Sam's Club in Eagan was selling gas for $4.03 a gallon, but around noon, that price shot up to $4.27.
"I just wish they'd come back down. It's going to affect the summer. I'm already thinking ahead on where we can go or what we can do, and you have to really figured out what the gas prices are going to be to decide if you're going to take trips, long trips or not now," said Therese Hoffman from west St. Paul.
Experts with AAA say prices have jumped because inventories for crude oil have dropped in recent days, and with the ongoing war in Ukraine, it means the world is left without one of its largest oil suppliers in Russia.
They say gas prices can continue to rise, and prices even higher than the ones we're seeing now aren't out of the question.
"We're 60 cents above the previous record now, and there doesn't appear to be a top in sight, so it's really hard to project where gasoline prices may go," said Gene Ladoucer, regional director of public affairs at AAA.
"Five dollar a gallon gasoline is not a foregone conclusion," said Ladoucer. "But on a national average, it appears reachable for the upper Midwest."
AAA says one option is that the state governments have is to create a tax holiday, which could lower prices at the pump. However, it could create issues with other tax-supported projects in the future.
