JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Prices are hitting all-time highs right before dozens of Mississippi schools are to go on Spring Break.
According to AAA, it could be a while before people get some relief at the pumps. Last week, AAA originally expected prices to peak around $4, but now it’s unclear when people could see prices start to decrease.
Although only a small percentage of oil in the U.S. is from Russia– Americans are feeling the
impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the pumps.
“Crazy, it’s going up and up and up. I remember when gas used to cost 65 cents a gallon,” said Jackson neighbor George Jefferson.
“It’s like $4.15 or something like that. That’s shocking to me,” said Jackson neighbor Sean Taylor.
“We’ve seen prices just in a month alone, up almost 81 cents and just in the past week as most
people notice. it’s gone up over 25 cents,” said AAA Mississippi Don Redman.
President Joe Biden announced the U.S is cutting ties with Russian oil, but prices still are
expected to climb.
“They’re going to be higher and potentially higher in the coming weeks. If you have more than one vehicle, drive the most fuel-efficient vehicle, make sure your tires are properly inflated. Under inflated vehicles can rob your fuel efficiency by 30%. And, slow down that’s one of the easiest things you can do, but there’s
no easy fix for this,” said Redman.
AAA said the rise in fuel prices could even lead to plane tickets becoming more expensive.
“It really depends on how early some of the airlines locked in on the fuel prices before this most recent crisis. Let’s say they have locked into a contract for three years and they just purchased that before Russia invaded Ukraine. You may not see immediate impact and fuel surcharges, but if it may be that contract is coming to an end and they had to renew that contract. Yeah, then you’re definitely going to see it.”
But it’s still too soon to tell if fuel prices will put a damper on people’s spring break
and summer plans.
“I think they’re going to do it. I’m going to hang out, I’ll probably ride with somebody,” said Jackson neighbor Sean Taylor.
“Right now, we’re not anticipating a huge change, but we do advise motorists to start being
very fuel conscious in their plans.”