The price of gas at a River North station was above $3 a gallon Thursday night.
Online reports say it’s even higher in other parts of the city.
The price surge is just in time for the summer driving season which is expected to be busier this year.
“Actually I haven’t been paying attention to the prices,” one motorist told NBC 5.
The cost of filling up is starting to sneak up on drivers.
“I think it’s a little bit too high,” another said.
Regular unleaded just jumped above $3 a gallon in Avondale.
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“It’s summer, everybody wants to go out and have to spend more on gas,” a customer said.
It’s not just drivers, gas stations aren’t happy about the price increase either.
“If it is low or it is high, we make the same price. It’s not like higher profit, lower profit,” Sheik Amer, assistant manager at a Shell said.
Gas prices across Chicago are at the highest we’ve seen since 2015.
Patrick Dehaan with GasBuddy.com says supply and demand is the main cause — especially with a drop in oil production overseas.
“That’s probably the biggest factor that we can point to is OPEC’s production cuts have really eaten away from US oil inventories,” he said.
It means drivers have to find a way to pay more at the pump.
Some have a solution to try to save on gas if prices keep going up.
“I’ll probably be going up to suburbs to get gas if that’s what’s going to happen,” a passing motorist told NBC 5.
Experts think gas prices will keep going up this summer.
But not close to when we peaked in 2008 — remember gas back then averaged $4.50 cents here in Chicago.
