You may have noticed gas prices going back up; in fact on Wednesday gas prices went up dramatically around the area.

At one Chattooga County service station the gas price was $1.97 on Wednesday morning and by Wednesday evening the price had risen to $2.11 a gallon – a fourteen cent increase.  

Experts say that there are a couple of factors in the rising gas prices.  First, crude oil has gone up twenty-five to thirty percent in trading over the past several days.  Second, the first quarter of each year is typically a time when crude oil prices see a jump.  The reason for the jump in fuel prices during the first quarter is because refineries in the United States reduce production to switch over from "winter fuel" blends to "summer fuel" blends during the first quarter.  The decrease in supply of fuel during this time period increases the price per gallon that you pay at the pump. 

Even with the rise in gas prices, the prices are still substantially lower than they were in the area this time last year.