May 5, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — Just as Americans gear up for summer road trips, the price of oil remains stubbornly high, pushing prices at the gas pump to painful heights.
Drivers were paying $4.37 for a gallon of regular Tuesday, on average, according to AAA. That's 25 cents higher than a month ago, and $1.40 more than a year ago.
“The price of gas is ridiculous,” said Joel Baxter, a nurse, who was filling up his car at a BP station in Brooklyn, New York, so that he could commute 26 miles (42 kilometers) to work. “The money, your salary, is practically the same, and everything is going up, so they should do something about it.”
The high price of oil is the main cause of the biting gasoline prices. A barrel of U.S. benchmark crude was selling for around $100 a barrel Tuesday, a price tag that has been climbing throughout the year.
“We will see this trend continue probably throughout summer, mainly because of demand,” said Andrew Gross, spokesman for AAA. “The weather’s getting warmer. The days are getting nicer. People are hitting the road.”
That's particularly hard on people who drive for a living, or those who must drive to get to work.
“It’s expensive,” said Peter Lector, 28, who spent $60 Tuesday to fill up his tank in Brooklyn. “I’m doing Uber, so it’s costing me a lot of money every morning.”
If the price of gasoline keeps going up, he feels like he might have to find another job, he said.
Still others have accepted that high gasoline prices may be here to stay.
“It is what it is,” said David Stephen, who was also buying gasoline in Brooklyn. “Everything goes up, never comes down .... You can’t do anything about it.”
