Gas Prices On The Rise, Again

Thursday, April 5th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

There is more pain at the pump for Oklahoma drivers. That means many folks will be paying more for Easter trips, and are wondering what gas will cost down the road when we hit the peak driving season. News On 6 anchor Craig Day reports it isn't unusual to see gas prices start to creep up this time of year, but prices have spiked 15 to 20 cents a gallon in the last month alone.

Ed Holt rarely fills up his pickup anymore, instead, he gets a little bit at a time and tries to make it last. Especially since the price for a gallon of gas has jumped again.

"I can understand going up one or two cents, but I don't know why it goes up nine cents or ten cents,â€ said Tulsa resident Ed Holt.

Gas prices are up for the ninth week in a row nationwide, and the cost of a gallon of gas is at a six month high in Oklahoma.

"Well, I don't like it,â€ said Karen Patterson of Tulsa. â€œI wish we could do more to have alternative methods. I would like to see that."

According to AAA, gas in Tulsa averages about $2.54 right now, but we saw it for $2.57 in many places, and even up to $2.69 a gallon at one station. Experts say part of the blame for the jump at the pump, as always, is the lack of supply.

"A lot of the refineries that might ordinarily not go down for maintenance, they went down for maintenance in February and March," Tom Kloza with the Oil Price Information Service said.

Instability in the Middle East, especially in Iran, is also a factor causing anxiety over the future supply of oil.

"For now, particularly with Iran in the background, there's going to be a lot of what I call petronoia, where folks are afraid of that," said Kloza.

Whatever the reasons, the early spike in fuel costs is hitting drivers hard, and could get even worse as we get closer to the summer driving season.

"I'm on social security and it's rough on me because I'm on a budget, and every time these prices go up they hurt me in the pocketbook," Holt said.

While gas prices are high, Oklahoma still fares better than most states. AAA Oklahoma says we're usually the cheapest or one of the cheapest markets in the nation. They say we're close to refineries so transportation costs are lower, plus Oklahoma has a low gas tax rate and there is a lot of competition for your fuel dollars.

To find out what the price of gasoline in your community, click here.