*Attached video: Why are egg prices so high?
CLEVELAND (WJW) — Gas prices are soaring in Northeast Ohio and across the nation, but why are they on the rise this time?
According to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report, the average price for gas in Northeast Ohio is 30 cents higher this week at $3.439 per gallon. Nationwide, the week’s average is at $4.053.
In Cleveland, a Fox 8 team went to see it for themselves at a Shell Gas station located on the 13000 block of Lorain Avenue and a BP gas station located on the 900 block of Carnegie Ave. Both locations are selling gas for $3.79 per gallon.
Average prices of unleaded self-service gasoline in various areas, according to AAA:
- $3.469 – Alliance
- $3.481 – Ashland
- $3.452 – Ashtabula
- $3.499 – Aurora
- $3.477 – Chesterland
- $3.390 – Cleveland
- $3.372 – Elyria
- $3.477 – Independence
- $3.292 – Lorain
- $3.419 – Lyndhurst
- $3.451 – Massillon
- $3.416 – Mentor
- $3.455 – New Philadelphia
- $3.468 – Niles
- $3.492 – Norwalk
- $3.448 – Oberlin
- $3.364 – Parma
- $3.437 – Ravenna
- $3.499 – Solon
- $3.487 – Willard
- $3.367 – Youngstown
According to data from the Energy Information Administration, gas demand increased from 8.96 million to 9.15 million barrels a day last week.
On Sunday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major oil producers announced an agreement to slash their output by just over 1 million barrels per day through the end of 2023. The cut is planned to start in one month, according to AAA.
The move caused oil prices to spike, popping over the $80 per barrel mark for the first time in several months, AAA said.
According to the Associated Press, those cuts total up to 1.15 million barrels per day.
The production cuts could push U.S. gasoline prices up by roughly 26 cents per gallon, in addition to the usual increase that comes when the gasoline blend is changed during the summer, said Kevin Book, managing director of Clearview Energy Partners LLC.
According to AAA, all of these factors could mean that we could see gas at more than $4 a gallon during the summer.
To find current gas prices nationwide, statewide and countywide, click here.
