Gas prices increase this week

By WVUA 23 News Student Reporter MJ Miller

Prices at the pump are going up up up.

Alabama drivers are going to be paying 15 cents more at the pump than they were last week according to GasBuddy. From June to July, prices rose 28 cents overall. 

The price increase is caused by many reasons, but two of the big ones are heat and overall price of oil. Oil in reserves in Russia and Saudi Arabia is increasing in price making gas more expensive. Secondly, the extreme weather and heat is causing oil refineries to operate at half capacity meaning oil is not being cleaned as fast as it used to. All this coupled with a high demand for gas in the summer is causing the price to skyrocket.

Gas Buddy doesn’t see prices going down anytime soon especially with hurricane season soon to be here.

Randy Ryan, a customer at Circle K gas station, said the increase in gas prices is affecting other parts of his life like his grocery bills. “I live in Moundville and I have to drive to Tuscaloosa for groceries, but with gas going up, I have to buy less groceries.”

On the gas buddy app and a quick drive around the area, the cheapest gas was $3.25 at Murphy Express on Hargrove and McFarland and the most expensive was Texaco at $3.44 on Lurleen B Wallace and McFarland in Northport.

Gas isn’t the only thing going up, diesel prices are going up too. With diesel prices on the rise, deliveries may take longer or be more expensive since the trucks that deliver them, take diesel.

Overall these gas prices are going to start a domino effect for the whole economy.