The price of gasoline is continuing to rise across country, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.The price of petroleum has increased significantly in Mississippi, and even Starkville’s average gas price has risen by more than 16 cents from just one week ago.
On Sunday, the price of unleaded gas in Starkville ranged between $3.03 and $3.05. The same grade of fuel averaged at $3.05 in Columbus, and both Aberdeen and Oxford reported prices as high as $3.09 per gallon.
According to statistics on MissississippiGasPrices.com, the average price for unleaded gasoline in Mississippi that day was $3.024 per gallon, compared to the national average of $3.10 per gallon.
Further statistics from the Web site show that the price of gasoline has consistently risen during the past year. In Mississippi, unleaded gas averaged at $2.089 one year ago, $2.611 one month ago and $2.887 last week.
Charles Campbell, professor of finance and economics at Mississippi State, said there are several reasons for high gas prices, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies keeping the prices high, the monopoly power of oil companies and the crisis in the Middle East. He said countries need oil in order to continue development and run industries.
“There’s a tremendous demand, primarily because there’s economic development,” Campbell said.
Finance and economics associate professor Ben Blair said another factor for rising prices is the weakening of the American dollar.
“One of the big things that’s driving foreign oil up is the dollar declining in value in the international markets,” Blair said.
He cites low interest rates on investments and uncertainty about the direction of the country’s economy as reasons for the dollar’s dwindling value.
“The threat of a recession will drive the dollar down even further,” he said.
Campbell said another reason the dollar is weakening is due to the United States’ growing national debt. He added that he does not expect gas prices to decrease anytime soon.
“There’s going to be this continuous increase in demand,” he said. “We would have to decrease demand [to get prices to drop].”
Higher gas prices mean people may have to adjust their budgets, Campbell said.
“It’s a matter of where people spend their money,” he said. “Obviously if people spend more on gas, they have less to spend elsewhere.”
If prices continue to increase, Campbell said manufacturing would be affected because of the higher cost of transportation, which would in turn lead to increasing prices in retail goods.
While some have suggested drilling in places like Alaska and Florida to increase domestic oil supply, Campbell said problems would stem from those plans.
“There’s a whole set of environmental problems that come with increasing the supply as opposed to decreasing the demand,” he said.
Blair said gas prices dropped slightly Monday because OPEC is acting like they may increase their production.
Employees from several Starkville gas stations said the high gas prices are hurting everyone.
Lubertha Brown, manager of Express Shop 37 at 500 Hwy. 12 West, said high gas prices have affected her because she makes a long drive every day from work to home.
“I drive about 50 miles round-trip a day. It hurts me, too,” she said.
Gasoline is a product that consumers must purchase no matter what its price is, Brown said.
“There’s nothing people can do about it,” she said. “We’ve got to put gas in the cars.”
Brown said some of her customers have complained about the rising prices.
“Everyone asks me when the [price increases] are going to stop,” she said.
Brown is asked by the gas station’s petroleum supplier to survey other prices in town. The company, not individual gas stations, dictate the price per gallon of gasoline accordingly.
Andrew Bailey, assistant manager of Strange Brew Coffeehouse said the coffee house’s gas station operates in a similar fashion. He said he usually checks other gas stations’ prices on his way to work.
Bailey said Strange Brew potentially makes more profit from the sales of its coffee than it does from its gasoline sales.
“We try and have the cheapest gas in town because we don’t make that much money off it,” he said. “It’s more a draw to get people inside.”
Although a few customers have commented about the high price of gas, Bailey said most of them do not complain.
Even with carpooling and other gas-saving measures, everyone still needs gasoline, he said.
“It’s an essential thing,” Bailey said. “There’s nothing we can do about it but grit our teeth and bear it.”
Queshana Page, a cashier at B-Quick 31 on Lee Boulevard, said numerous customers have protested the high gas prices.
“I’ve had a lot of customers complain about the gas going up,” she said. “Last week, the gas [prices] went up three times in one week.”
Page said customers were complaining about prices before gas hit $3 per gallon.
“They started complaining when it hit $2.92, but then they really started complaining when it hit three dollars,” she said.
Page said some of her customers have even talked about selling or trading in their vehicles.
“Some folks say they’re going trade or sell their big cars because gas keeps going up,” she said.
Freshman aerospace engineering major Mason Hall said gas prices have kept him from driving home.
Hall, a native of Dothan, Ala., said he has almost a six-hour drive home.
“It makes going home expensive when it takes $60 to fill up your car,” he said.