JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Gas prices are at a new record-high and there is no sign of slowing down. Industry experts predict we could hit $4.50 per gallon soon.
It seems like everywhere you go, you hear someone talking about how much they just paid to fill up.
At the RaceTrac on Atlantic Boulevard in the Empire Point neighborhood gas was listed at $4.19 per gallon Wednesday morning.
That number is on the high end of the average in Jacksonville, but we’re still doing better than the current average in Florida.
According to AAA, Florida’s average gas price as of Wednesday is $4.21, up from Tuesday’s average, which was $4.15
Florida’s average a year ago was $2.78
The national price now, according to AAA, is $4.25. So Florida is catching up.
This time last year, the national average was $2.79.
We talked to drivers Wednesday morning who say the prices are ridiculous.
“I can’t afford it,” driver Janda Sheets said. “You have to map out your day. Maybe, I should have done that in the past, but at $3 or $3.50 or $3.70 a gallon, I’m like, ‘OK, maybe we can go to the mall or go get gas and do this and go get some dinner.’ But now, it’s nope -- school, home. That’s what we’re doing.”
Some have asked why the U.S. doesn’t just ramp up production of petroleum in the states?
Even if companies were to start drilling more now, that extra supply would not be available for months -- if not years.
