COLUMBUS, Ohio — Competition at the pump. Inflation. Sanctions against Russia. Restrictions on US drilling. People are driving more. Together, experts say they're all driving up the cost of gasoline.
As the supply of gasoline around the world gets smaller, experts say, everyone pays the price.
"All of a sudden if Germany and Europe are no longer getting oil from Russia, they got to get their oil from somewhere that supply could come from Canada, it could come from us and it has to go somewhere. That would mean less for the United States," said Jeff Bielicki, who runs the Energy Sustainability Research Laboratory at Ohio State University.
Have you ever wondered what exactly goes into the price at the pump? Here's a breakdown.
The biggest component of retail gas prices is the cost of crude oil, which makes up about 56% of the total price. It's $130 a barrel now.
Add in another 30% for the refiners, distributors, and retailers and another 15% in federal and state taxes.
"We see inflationary costs with a lot of things it's not just gasoline it's not price gouging it's supply chain issues, demand issues, are driving those prices where they are currently," said Alex Boehnke, who represents Ohio Energy and Convenience Association.
One possible solution is for the US to release more of its national strategic oil supply of about 700 to 800 million gallons of oil, but experts say that won't do much good.
"The total capacity is about a month worth of US consumption so it's not going to have a prolonged effect," says Bielicki.
Gasoline forecasts predict the average cost of a gallon of gas will peak in May at $4.25.
Even as prices begin to decline after that, the average is expected to remain over $4 until November.
Ways to Save:
Check gas prices in your area by visiting GasBuddy, which is a local search-based network of more than 180 different sites which track gas prices on the local level.
Just search for “gas price” + location on Yahoo Search and their shortcut will give you the link to GasBuddy.com results in your neighborhood.
Enroll in gas loyalty programs and grocery store rewards programs.
Some credit cards give you points towards buying gas.