LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The national gas price average has risen for a second straight week. That’s according to Gas Buddy who reported that the nation’s average has risen over 11 cents from just a week ago.
The fast spike has people budgeting how much gas they put in their car at a time.
Valley resident Terrena told us: "I haven’t filled up my tank since the beginning of September. I haven’t filled up since then. It’s just been nickel and dime here and there."
Earlier this year the nation reached record high gas prices, stemming from Russia’s war on Ukraine. This time that’s not the case. Gas Buddy and AAA told Channel 13 the cause of the price hike is due to unforeseen disruptions and planned maintenance issues with oil refineries that service the West Coast and the Great Lakes Region. This has caused supply and demand to drift further apart as these companies work to resolve these issues.
AAA spokesperson John Treanor explains: "Essentially those oil refineries are shut down or partially shut down which means the supply is low. It can’t meet up with demand."
For Terrena, everyday comes with a tough decision.
"Even with the budgeting and with the prices of food, the budgeting is not even helping with the cut back. It’s either I feed my four kids or not fill up my car to get to work," Terrena said.
Another driver, Cedric has similar concerns.
"Right now I can’t fill up my tank because it’s really expensive," he admitted.
Gas Buddy’s head of petroleum Patrick De Haan anticipates prices could rise even higher over the next week or two before starting to stabilize.
"In some areas of the west we’ve seen prices shoot up 50 cents to a dollar a gallon in just about 2 weeks. It’s very rare to see such a significant increase so quickly," says De Haan.
Gas buddy estimates gas prices won’t be back down to what they were before the disruptions and planned maintenance until at least Thanksgiving.
