TUCSON, Ariz(KGUN) — Gas prices are continuing to go up and drivers are dealing with lighter pockets, but it's not all because of the situation in Ukraine. Aldo Vazquez with AAA Arizona says while Ukraine is one factor for rising gas prices there are also other reasons for changes that are happening fast.
"We're going to continue to deal with higher gas prices for quite some time. Typically, during this time of year is when we make that switch from winter to summer blend which costs a little bit more than the winter blend does so that is one of the reasons, we see gas prices go up. Then we are seeing this increase in demand more people are traveling the closer we get to the summer travel season,” Vazquez said.
AAA released information saying that the International Energy Agency or IEA that includes the United States, Germany, Canada, South Korea and Mexico are planning to release reserves from their supply to help the market supply. It's the largest coordinated release of fuel since IEA was founded in 1974. Vazquez says it can help but not much.
"They announced that they are going to release about 60 million barrels of crude oil from 31 member countries and about half of that is coming from the United States. So about 60 million barrels of this crude oil is coming out of the reserves to hopefully combat this problem of rising gas prices. Unfortunately, that’s not going to do much when you put into comparison with how much comes out of Russia,” Vazquez said.
Meanwhile, experts say todays gas prices are getting close old records set back in 2008. For those who are wondering about how much more those prices will go up that still continues a mystery.
"People are still going to go out and they are still going to travel. We do not anticipate gas prices deterring people from traveling if anything they will probably factor in the cost of gas into their budget or they will modify their spending habits when they are on vacation,” Vazquez said.
https://gasprices.aaa.com/news/fuel-saving-tips/
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