A day after prices for a gallon of unleaded regular gas at numerous Columbus-area stations jumped to $4.29 and even $4.39, they surged again on Wednesday, April 29, to just under $5 at several locations.
The average gas price has hit $4.22 per gallon in Ohio and $4.26 in the Columbus area as of April 29, according to AAA. That’s about 40 cents more than the central Ohio average from a week ago.
Some stations are a penny from hitting the $5 threshold, listing prices at $4.99 per gallon. The Shell station on South High Street and at the BP Station at South Front Street and Greenlawn Avenue in Columbus’ Brewery District as well as at least two stations along Main Street in Reynoldsburg.
Many other stations throughout the Columbus area were posting prices at $4.79 on Wednesday afternoon, April 29, including in Westerville, Worthington and Dublin, and those may go up soon. Very few stations are still offering gas at under $4 a gallon, according to GasBuddy, a website and app that tracks gas prices.
Why are gas prices so high?
These elevated levels are not unique to Columbus. Nationally, gas prices are at their highest level since 2022, driven in large part by the U.S.-Iran war as the two countries remain deadlocked over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a major trade route for oil.
“Oil prices have been climbing again as markets react to renewed geopolitical tensions and the cancellation of talks between the U.S. and Iran,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in an April 27 statement that foretold a second jump this week. “As a result, gasoline prices are set to rise further this week, with diesel expected to follow.”
When will gas prices drop?
Despite the fact that the U.S. oil industry currently produces more oil than the country consumes, Energy Secretary Chris Wright expressed uncertainty over when these high prices at the pump might let up.
When asked on April 19 by CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” if it’s realistic for Americans to expect gas prices to drop below $3 again, Wright initially replied “I don’t know.”
He followed up by saying that it could happen later this year, or maybe not until 2027.
“But prices have likely peaked,” Wright said, “and they’ll start going down, certainly with a resolution of this conflict.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus gas prices near $5 a gallon and could continue to climb
Reporting by Emma Wozniak, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
