MINNEAPOLIS — "It's going up and down quite a bit. This is the cheapest I've seen in the area," said Tia Jacobs.
With warmer weather, people like Jacobs expect to pay more at the pump.
"$55 to $60," said Jacobs.
As travel experts expect more people to get out and travel this summer compared to last, experts say the demand for gas — and prices — will also rise.
"Around this time every year, the price of gas goes up because the demand goes up," said Akshay R. Rao, Professor of Marketing at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.
Rao says there are three factors affecting the cost of gas this year. "The war in Ukraine, which consumers can do nothing [about], supply chain issues, which the consumer can do nothing [about], and demand, the only thing we can control as a consumer," he said.
According to AAA, the national average reached a record high dollar value of $4.37 per gallon today — up from just under $3 this time last year, not accounting for inflation.
"Let's stipulate for a moment that this number is accurate and it is in fact the highest, numerical value. Does that make it is the highest real value, inflation adjusted? Not necessarily," said Rao. "If you look back in time there are times when the actual real price has been higher."
While experts say the rising prices will affect the cost of supplies...
"Diesel is $6 per gallon, and it's inflationary, and products have to get moved from point A to point B," said Rao.
"Ever since the pandemic it's been hard for people to get their businesses back up and running," said consumer Haley Watson.
People here are hoping to pump the breaks on high costs at the pumps.
"Just gotta roll with it until it goes back down," said Jacobs.
Back in March, President Joe Biden ordered the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve for six months — a bid to control energy prices that have spiked after the United States and allies imposed steep sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, according to the Associated Press.
A spokesperson from AAA told KARE 11, "right now, it's at the highest, although this record may be broken by tomorrow. The good news, if oil stays below $100 a barrel this week, we could see prices at the pump start to dip next week."
Meanwhile, experts are asking people to consider carpooling, driving less, or maybe even investing in an electric car.