CINCINNATI — After two months of falling gas prices, Cincinnati-area drivers are getting a case of sticker shock this week, as the price of regular gas is soaring to $3.99 at many stations ($3.89 in Kentucky).
That is a 30-cent overnight jump in many areas, where the price was $3.69 just a day earlier.
And it comes after a 20-cent jump in the past two weeks, from an average $3.49 price in early September.
The timing, days after Hurricane Ian hit Florida, is raising questions about possible price gouging, but both AAA and GasBuddy say the rise is not hurricane-related, for the most part.
Reasons for the sudden price spike
The GasBuddy.com blog blames crude oil prices as the primary reason for the spike, with WTI crude oil jumping from $78 a barrel last week to $84 this week.
Crude prices are spiking after OPEC announced a production cutback of 100,000 barrels a day to keep oil prices from falling any further (and hurting the profits of oil producing OPEC nations).
In addition, several US refinery shutdowns have hurt the gasoline supply in recent weeks, including a BP refinery in Toledo, where an explosion killed 2 workers and has shut down the refinery, possibly into early next year.
As for Hurricane Ian, the storm shut several Gulf of Mexico oil rigs, but those are reopening and not expected to hurt supplies.
President Biden, meantime, has warned oil companies and stations not to raise prices to profit off the storm, so it appears unlikely that any of this is price gouging, as suspicious as the timing is.
To find the cheapest gas near you, check out our gas prices map here.
As always, don't waste your money.
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