PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Gasoline prices are now higher than at any time in the history of gasoline, according to the AAA.
Experts warn that without long-term measures, prices will rise even higher.
Long lines lined up at Costco in Newark, Delaware, Tuesday night. Everyone was waiting for the opportunity to make money on gasoline at $3.99 a gallon.
Meanwhile, Mark Green had to settle for $4.45 a gallon at Cheltenham.
“It has a big effect because you have to decide whether you will eat or gas up,” Greene said.
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Oil and gas expert Jay Yang says that by the time summer hits, filling up will cost a lot more.
“This year it will cost them $150 to $200 to fill up their tanks, they may not take the vacation they usually take. It will be terrible,” warned Young, CEO of King Operating, a private oil and gas company.
He says there is very little opportunity for America right now to fill the void in oil and gas supplies.
“We need to drill for oil and gas in the US. There are too many factors holding us back from this,” Young said.
Economists say there are other commodities whose prices will rise sharply as well, especially wheat.
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Russia and Ukraine account for more than a quarter of the world’s wheat production.
“Ultimately, this means that food will cost more,” said Adam Kamins, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.
“This is the perfect geopolitical storm, and it’s not even complete yet,” said Dr. Wojtek Wolf, an assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University.
“The timing is really bad from an economic point of view, because we are already in conditions of high inflation. Things can get pretty bad,” Cummins said.
Gov. Tom Wolfe called on Congressional leaders to suspend the federal gas tax until the end of the year.
However, his office tells Action News that it has no immediate plans to suspend the state tax on gas, which is nearly 0.59 cents per gallon.
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