VALDOSTA — Last year’s shocking $4-per-gallon gas price is not expected to disturb travelers this summer. Yet, the more people travel, the higher gas prices will rise.
“Gas prices last year were high because of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) restricting the amount of oil it was placing on the world oil market,” said Clifford Lipscomb, a Valdosta State University assistant professor of marketing/economics. “That, coupled with increased demand for gasoline during the summer months particularly, is what caused gas prices to reach $4 per gallon.”
In the United States, about 178 million gallons of gasoline is consumed every day, according to auto.howstuffworks.com.
In the summer, the demand for gas increases since more people go on vacation travels.
“Holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July create logjams of tourist traffic during the summer,” according to auto.howstuffworks.com. “This high demand usually translates into higher gasoline prices.”
When the gas price reached $4 per gallon in the summer of 2008, people were encouraged to drive less. Thus the demand of oil decreased, which led to lower prices, per auto.howstuffworks.com.
Gas prices in the Valdosta area are slightly rising as the average on Friday was $2.32 per gallon of regular unleaded compared to $1.89 a month ago, according to gasbuddy.com.
Lipscomb said that this trend should not reach last summer’s prices.
“This year, gas prices have increased recently mostly due to the increased driving folks do during the summer,” he said. “OPEC continues to place about the same amount of oil on the world market, so I think it is unlikely that we will see $4 gas prices this summer.”
An article in dailyfinance.com also confirmed that despite the rising trend in gas prices nationwide, “There will be no ‘gas pump shock’ like the one that occurred last summer at the end of the leveraging bubble, when you could pay less for dinner for two than to fill up your gas tank.”
On Friday, the lowest gas price in Valdosta was $2.25 at Sam’s Club located at 450 Norman Drive, while the highest one was $2.39 at P & D Food Mart at 700 Griffin Ave., according to gasbuddy.com.
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