| Updated: 5/21/2009 8:12 pm |
Published: 5/21/2009 3:41 pm |
Memorial Day weekend is almost here, and gas prices continue to rise just like they have for the past month. Right now the average price of gas in Arkansas is $2.24 a gallon. Nationally it's $2.36. A month ago it was $1.95 a gallon.
With Memorial Day weekend almost here, $2.29 a gallon is the price to pay if you take a trip to the lake, or for Lee Walter, a road trip to Kansas City for a family reunion. Lee doesn't like it but says there's nothing he can do about it. “The key word you just said was 'last year;' things have changed. It'sjust totally ridiculous on oil companies," he said. A month ago it cost him $22 to fill up, now about $35. A $13 difference!
Tynesha Givens says each fill-up now takes all her extra cash, and that means no road trip this Memorial Day. “It's 15 bucks, but it's a lot for us, I don't have the extra $15 to spare," she said.
Although $2.29 is better than the $3.69 a gallon we were paying last year, the big question is why is the price of gas going up?
An AAA spokesperson says the economy is strengthening and crude oil is going up. That is the primary driver of high prices. Throw in Memorial Day weekend, plus the summer driving season, and it equals increased demand.
Suzette Green lives in Camden but is visiting her daughter in the hospital. She has to drive home, but isn't filling up her tank. "I'm only putting $20 in," she said. "That's all I can afford, that's it, that's it."
Experts say the price at the pump is not expected to reach that dreaded $4.00 a gallon mark but definitely expect to pay more this summer.
