Gasoline prices rising, likely to go higher

UPDATE 1/03/17 5:00 PM: Those who waited to do their traveling until after the holiday season may now be regretting it. Gas prices have shot up over the past few weeks, and it might just be the beginning.

Gas prices on the central coast have jumped by about 6 cents over the past week or so; that’s according to AAA. But officials say this isn’t anything out of the ordinary.

It’s the beginning of a new year which means meaningful resolutions, and higher gas prices.

“That’s too much for me…it’s too expensive,” said driver Patty Flores.

“It’s very hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. All we can hope for is hope,” said driver Ruby Valerde.

But apparently that extra cost to fill your tank over the last few weeks was expected.

“California today is registering $2.76, it’s gone up almost a dime in one month, which is not unheard of, we are always the highest price gas in the nation,” Cynthia Harris, Spokesperson for AAA Northern California.

There’s several reasons for this yearly increase.

For starters, gas refineries have stopped production of their winter blend fuel in preparation for their more expensive summer blend. Also, OPEC has cut back production of crude oil.

“So we are seeing now globally a cap on crude oil prices so that always makes gas for us consumers go up slightly at the pumps,” said Harris.

Here on the Central Coast, we’re still under that ten-cent statewide increase.

“We have seen an increase of six cents in one month in the Watsonville, Monterey, Santa Cruz area,” said Harris.

One Arco station employee sees his prices jump and fall all the time.

“A few weeks ago we were at $2.19, $2.17 was our lowest,” said Arco Employee, Everardo Serrano.

And he has a different theory on why Central Coast gas prices always raise during the winter.

“Right now they’re kind of spiking up a bit due to the season change and stuff. All the field workers and stuff, agriculture, going down to Yuma. So we lose business on the inside. So if we’re kinda losing business on the inside we’ve gotta do what we gotta do to keep the business running,” said Serrano.

But no matter why prices rise, AAA says you can save on gas by using your car’s heater less, use public transportation, invest in hybrid or electric vehicles, and of course, don’t drive if you don’t have to.

“There’s all sorts of things that we can do that we can take responsibility for as consumers to make it more affordable and to be more in control of our expenditures,” said Harris.

And barring any type of catastrophe like an oil spill or devastating eastern storm, we shouldn’t be seeing record breaking gas hikes.

“This is nothing to really be concerned about, this is just how the market rolls,” said Harris.

ORIGINAL STORY: Central Coast gasoline prices have gone up about six cents per gallon in the past week, according to AAA. The higher prices aren’t exactly a surprise, and could signal further hikes.

On Tuesday, AAA spokesperson Cynthia Harris told KION’s Matt Sizemore that the the reason for the increase is two-fold. First, OPEC nations have cut back on crude oil production, and secondly, gas refineries are converting production to the more expensive summer blend.

Harris says average cost for a gallon of unleaded gas in California is $2.76, up almost a dime in one month.

Tonight at 6 p.m., Matt looks at the rising prices and hears from drivers who are paying more at the pump.