Locals react to rising gas prices
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Gas prices have been climbing since the war with Iran began.
No matter the commute, people say their pockets are feeling the effects of higher gas prices.
Chris Latham drives a Ford F-150, and often fills his gas cans for his boat and lawnmower.
“A whole 50 dollars more to fill up this 40-gallon tank right here. When you start looking at that, it’s going to cause everything to go up,” said Latham at a Shell gas station.
Latham said every dollar counts.
According to Triple A, the national average of gas prices passed 4 dollars for the first time since 2022.
“They are so high. I have to fill up twice a day almost, my sons got games here and there everywhere. The gas prices, they need to go down, they need to go down,” said Jasmine Webber at a Kroger gas station.
“I have to drive back and forth to doctor appointments, and it just take a bite out of your pocket, ” said Andrew Whitten, a Columbus resident.
The national average for gas prices is now $4.02, but it varies by the state.
And that’s a dollar more than it was before the U.S. attacked Iran in late February.
“I don’t know what we can do. I guess with this war going on, everything has gone up. They’ve jumped everything to just a dollar,” said Latham.
“I catch myself at the gas station more than anywhere else. My gas is lasting maybe half a day now,” said LaTangie, a Columbus resident.
The war with Iran is causing shipments of oil from parts of the Middle East to slow to a trickle.
That lowered supply together –with steady or increasing demand — means available supplies will cost more, and even domestic oil is tied to the prices on the international market.
Latham said he has seen the change in gas prices in less than a month.
“I left to go out of the country, it was 2.39, I got back, it’s 3.59, and now it’s 4.19 for ethanol, so it’s going to cost me and my family a whole lot more,” said Latham.
“I hope that they can resolve this issue and get these gas prices lowered,” said LaTangie.
And when it comes to diesel, things are even higher with some people saying it’s costing them $125 for just half a tank.
“We putting more in the tank than we put in the bank,” said Webber.
Businesses like Burns Dirt say they’ve also felt the effect of their heavy equipment.
