CINCINNATI — It's another sign of spring every year: rising gas prices.
Two days after crude oil prices surged to $80 a barrel, their highest level of the year so far, gasoline prices are following them up.
We found stations across Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky raising their signs to $3.75 for regular on Wednesday, a 25 cent jump in many places.
Pump prices had been stable around $3.49 for the past three weeks, up from a low of $3.19 earlier in the year.
Three reasons for the price hike
GasBuddy'shead of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, says there are three reasons for the jump.
The main one: OPEC's announcement earlier this week that it was cutting oil production by 1.15 million barrels a day, to keep crude prices stable.
That immediately sent world oil prices higher, and Gas Buddy said it expected to see gasoline prices following them higher a few days later.
A second reason: oil companies have recently switched over to a more expensive "summer blend" of gasoline in most regions to reduce pollution.
That typically raises prices by 15 to 25 cents a gallon each spring.
The third reason: the arrival of spring break means that fuel demand is now on the rise, with prices and demand continuing to rise until Memorial Day.
The good news is that no one right now is predicting a return of last summer's $5 and $6 gas, when distribution and pipeline problems caused a major spike just in time for peak driving season.
Of course, those record prices were not predicted either, so there is no guarantee we won't see that happen again.
As always, don't waste your money.
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