The price of oil hit a 30-month high Monday and prices at the pump following suit. In Albany, the average price per gallon is up nine cents from just last week. It's a sight most people are sick of seeing.
Gas prices climbed to $3.79, $3.85, even pushing $4.
“It’s getting hard to go anywhere, you know,” explained Tom Patrizio of Guilderland.
Harold Fisher of Schenectady agrees, saying, “What can I say, half of my paycheck goes to getting back and forth to work.”
In New York, the average price at the pump is $3.83, 18 cents above the national average.
That upsets some New Yorkers, like Dawn Lutz.
“You go to Boston and they're twenty, thirty cents cheaper down there, New York needs to do something,” Lutz said.
In Albany, the pricelast week was $3.81. And while high gas prices are nothing new, this recent spike seems to be hitting harder than usual.
Victoria Gregory of Guilderland says she has to ask mom and dad for help with groceries and often times tries to hitch a ride with someone else.
“Every time, I am like, ‘oh there goes another thirty dollars that I don’t have that I have to spend to get around,’” she said about going to the gas station.
FOX23 News did a little bit of math - if you have a car with an 18 gallon tank, it'll take about $68 to fill up at today’s prices. A year ago, it would have taken about $52, a good $16 cheaper.
“Yeah last year it wasn't a problem,” Lutz said. “It was a lot cheaper last year, it’s a dollar more.”
One reason for the recent spike, uprisings in the Middle East. The standoff in Libya has forced two percent of oil exports to come to a halt, raising doubts about future supplies.
Meanwhile, people in the Capital Region are just hoping to catch a break soon.
“It's very frustrating especially when I am a single mother and trying to get my son through school and everyday you go there, it’s three cents up,” Lutz said angrily.
Analysts say oil prices, and consequently gas prices, will begin to fall unless violent protests spread in the Middle East and North Africa.
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