Some drivers are still having sticker shock when they fill up their car at the pump. The price of crude oil dropped over the last week, but the prices at Connecticut gas stations have not dropped as quickly.
A week ago the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Connecticut was $4.41, according to AAA. On Wednesday, the average was $4.42.
But the price of oil has fallen significantly over the past week.
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“A week ago, on Sunday, we saw prices skyrocket in the crude markets to just under $140 a barrel. Yesterday, it almost went down to $90. Today, it's back at the $96. So, this volatility is really playing havoc with the markets,” said Chris Herb, the president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association.
Drivers said they were still feeling the pinch.
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“Gas is terrible. You know, I have to budget differently now. It’s $75 to fill my car up, you know, so it's too much money, you know, so I can't even do the extracurricular activities that we like to do,” said Alvin Foster, a driver from Newington.
“I mean, it's hard because I'm in school right now. Um, you know, you just got to deal with it. Like, there's nothing else you can really do,” said Melina Topintzis, who fills up her SUV three times a week driving from Newington to Stratford for school.
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Herb said the reason gas prices are not falling as quickly as oil prices is because “that full increase was never passed on [to consumers]. They’re still making up for that really high spike.” He added that the price of oil is still bouncing around, dipping to almost $90 a barrel and then back up to $96. If we start to see oil prices consistently fall, the price at the pump will fall too, according to Herb, but it'll take some time to catch up. There is also no guarantee, especially with the unrest with the Russia Ukraine conflict.
“Put your seatbelts on because this is very much a wild ride, very unpredictable between Russian embargoes of oil, foreign nations deciding whether to put more oil into the worldwide market, this is going to be a lot of uncertainty in the future,” he said.
The only thing drivers can control right now is making sure their vehicles are properly maintained, tires are properly inflated, to drive efficiently by using cruise control and to avoid any quick stops and starts.
