KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana |Pain at the pump for lake area residents

Pain at the pump for lake area residents

By Charlie Bartlett - bio | email

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - Crude oil has hit a low of thirty-four dollars a barrel.  That's the lowest it's been so far for 2009.  While crude oil prices have dropped, gas prices are doing just the opposite.

Gas prices have gone up in the past month and it's not looking good now. Many lake area drivers are concerned why gas prices aren't going down with oil.

"As far as gas prices, if they go up, it's going to cause people to hurt," said Mike Soileau.

And the pain has already started for drivers headed to the pump.

"It's gone up and it's costing more. I don't understand why," said Mandy Bodin.

"I think they're going to continue to go up even though it's bad economic times," said Clay Wilfert.

"It's a bad time for them to creep back up when people are losing their jobs.  Doesn't really make any sense," said Soileau.

Last Thursday, crude oil prices closed at just under $34 a barrel, which generally means cheaper gas prices. But the average price of a gallon of gas in Louisiana has risen fourteen cents in the last month.  With crude oil going down at its lowest price ever this year, gas prices are going up and driver's don't know why.

"I don't know why and I worked in the refinery for 33 years," said Amon Gentry.

"I don't understand it," said Bodin.

"That is an awesome question. Why are gas prices going up if the price of oil is going down?  Usually if the price of oil is down then gas goes down," said Soileau.

Gas is up and oil down because of this. Globally, the demand for crude oil is lower.  However, oil refineries are cutting back on output of gasoline leading to higher gas prices. Experts predict it's not going to ease up anytime soon eventually topping out at $2.50 by springtime.

"If it goes that high, we're really going to be in trouble because the higher the prices go people are losing their jobs," said Soileau.

"When you operate in big volumes like they do, they stand a chance to lose like we do at the pump," said Gentry.

"It concerns me a lot. Everybody is struggling here and gas is going up," said Bodin.

There's plenty of crude oil to go around but the refineries are not turning their oil into gasoline fast enough causing you pain at the pump. As a result, drivers tell me they're driving less on the road.