If prices at the pump have left you feeling deflated, you’re not alone. Last week at this time we were shelling out on average about $3.65 a gallon. But Monday morning that number shot up to $3.79. That’s a 14-cent jump overnight.
Jan Vineyard with the West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association, or OMEGA, says there are a couple reasons why gas is going up, up, up and it comes down to the cost of oil.
“We look at a graph that says ‘Where does your fill up go?’ And 66-percent of the cost of gas comes from the cost of crude oil. Tuesday alone the cost of crude oil went up 52-cents,” says Vineyard.
On Wednesday, the cost of a barrel of oil was sitting at $119. That’s a relatively high number. Vineyard says the reason for the big price has to do with the time of the year at the oil refineries.
“Refineries that typically go down for what we call “routine maintenance” and turnaround in early spring, a couple of those have already started.”
Vineyard says that decreases the amount of gas available on the market which drives up the price.
And if you think gas station owners are happy about the increase, think again.
“I can promise you the lower the price at the pump, the happier our station owners are,” says Vineyard. “If you have to spend all your money on gas, you don’t come inside and buy energy drinks, a Coke, a newspaper and all those things we have.”
That’s how many OMEGA members make their profits.
Another reason, gas stations like to see lower prices, according to Vineyard, is that people are more likely to pay cash instead of using their credit cards. The stores would rather not deal with the interchange fee they have to pay to the credit card companies.
