Gas Prices Soar, But Why?

Just when you thought you were starting to see some relief at the gas pump-- sticker shock!  Motorists across our area have seen prices climb dramatically over the past few days.  "Three or four days ago actually on Street road I seen it was $3.39 for regular," Mario Patrascu, a Huntingdon Valley resident, told Fox 29.  And now?  "Today it was $3.79."  A whopping 40-cent jump.  

It's happening all across the region.  Last Friday at a gas station in Bensalem, a gallon of regular cost ten cents less than it does today.  "One minute it's $3.15, okay it's going in the right direction, yada yada yada," a frustrated Mike Hornyak complained.  "And then the next it's $3.25.  And then $3.35, and then $3.45.  What the heck happened overnight that it went up 10 cents?" Hornyak demanded to know.

A couple of things are happening.  Experts say as the economy improves, the price of crude goes up.  At the same time refineries are changing over to their summer gas blend, which means they're not producing as much gasoline right now.  Lower supply, higher prices.  

"In the last week alone up 19 cents a gallon," Jenny Robinson of Mid-Atlantic AAA told Fox 29.  Which means drivers are on the hunt again for the cheapest gas possible.  In Pennsylvania, that means heading over the Delaware River.  "I'm getting $5 in Pennsylvania, just enough to get me over the Tacony-Palmyra bridge so I can fill up in Jersey," Hornyak said.

"Are we going to see any relief?  Not in the next few weeks, although we could see prices level off," Robinson said.  But that may not happen for a couple of weeks, at least.  March should see prices stabilize, but expect to see another spike in April.  And that's not all, Governor Corbett is proposing a gas tax hike, which could see prices go up 28 1/2 cents a gallon over the next 5 years, if his plan is approved.