Middle East conflict driving up pump prices

In the middle of a nationwide economic crisis, gas prices are rising once again.

“We are seeing an increase in gas prices at all levels — national, state, local,” Carol Gifford, public relations manager for AAA Carolinas, said.

According to AAA Carolinas, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the Eden area Thursday was $1.684. The price of regular unleaded gas at the J-Mart (Huffman Oil Co.) on East Stadium Drive was $1.69 on Thursday. Last week, it was $1.59. Two weeks ago, it was $1.51.

The average price in the Reidsville area Thursday was $1.676, according to AAA Carolinas. Last week, it was $1.523. At Daniel’s Thrifty Mart Citgo station on U.S. 29 North in Reidsville, the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $1.69.

“We got all the way down to $1.51 last week,” said Glenn Montgomery, a clerk at Daniel’s Thrifty Mart. He said customers always notice when the price of gas rises.

“They don’t like it. They want to know why,” Montgomery said. He believes people will cut back on driving as the gas prices go up, because that’s what they did the last time gas prices rose in the summer.

Tom Long, another clerk at Daniel’s Thrifty Mart, said he has “loosened up on spending” since the gas prices have been low.

“They’ll tighten up,” Long said. “It’s not good for the economy.”

The gas price at the Family Fare Shell station on South Scales Street in Reidsville was also $1.69 per gallon on Thursday.

“It was like a 20-cent jump across town everywhere,” Evans Amankwah, Family Fare manager, said. “We all knew it wasn’t going to stay down forever.”

Amankwah said the price of gas held steady at $1.45 for about two weeks, then crept up to $1.46, then $1.49, then jumped up to $1.69 all at once.

“I don’t think it may come down, looking at the situation in the Middle East,” he said. As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, gas prices are rising.

“Oil prices are affected by political issues. There’s concern that there could be some supply disruption because of the tension there,” Gifford said. A more direct cause of the rise in gas prices is the production cut that OPEC announced in December, according to Gifford.

“That is decreasing the amount of oil that is available,” Gifford said. Despite the production cut, Gifford said demand for gasoline in the United States is low.

“It’s still a great bargain right now,” Gifford said. The gas prices had followed the downward trend for about three months following the gas spike in July. Gas prices began to rise once again at Christmas. A barrel of crude oil was trading about $42 on Thursday. Although oil prices have dipped, Gifford said we’ll have to “wait and see” if that translates to lower gas prices.

“It’s possible that gasoline prices will continue to fluctuate,” she said. The record low for 2008 was set on Dec. 19, when the price of crude oil closed at $33.87. The record high was set on July 3 when it closed at $145.29.

• Staff writer Miranda Baines can be reached at mbaines@reidsville-review.com or 349-4331, ext. 35.