Indebted to unleaded: Gas prices could spike to $4 nationally by Memorial Day

If your wallet is feeling pain at the pump, you aren't alone. 

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — If your wallet is feeling pain at the pump, you aren’t alone.

GasBuddy reports the average price of gas in North Carolina is $3.33 per gallon. Prices in the state are more than 24 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and almost a dollar per gallon higher than a year ago.

“It seems to be one of those things where it just keeps going up. There’s no end to the rise in the gas prices right now,” Leland resident Taylor Lee said.

GasBuddy’s Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan told WLOS the cause for the spike at the pump can be credited to many things. Oil production is about 1.5 million barrels lower than where it was pre-pandemic, the cost of oil is up because of the threat of Russia attacking Ukraine, and cold weather in Texas caused power outages at major refineries.

Unfortunately, De Haan says we could see prices near $4 per gallon nationally by Memorial Day. It’s something that some people are prepared to deal with if they must.

“I just come and get gas. If it went up to 5-dollars a gallon, okay that’s how much it is. If it went up higher, okay that’s how much it is. I mean, it hurts your pocketbook a little bit but you’ve gotta have gas,” another Leland resident said.

However, De Haan says the imbalances brought on by the pandemic will begin to even out in the next year or two.