Experts warn that the prices will go even higher without a long-term remedy.
There were long lines at the Costco in Newark, Delaware Tuesday evening. Everyone was waiting to cash in on gas for $3.99 a gallon.
Meanwhile, Mark Green had to settle for $4.45 a gallon in Cheltenham.
“It has a major effect because you gotta make a decision on whether you’re gonna eat or gonna get gas,” said Green.
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Oil and gas expert Jay Young says by the time summer gets here, it’s going to cost well beyond that to fill up.
“This year it’s gonna cost them $150 to $200 to fill up their tanks, maybe they won’t take that vacation that they normally take. It’s gonna be ugly,” warned Young, CEO of King Operating, a private oil and gas firm.
He says America has very few choices right now on filling the void for oil and gas supplies.
“We need to drill for oil and gas in the U.S. There’s too many factors keeping us from it,” said Young.
Economists say there are other commodities that are also going to skyrocket — particularly wheat.
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Russia and Ukraine account for over a quarter of all wheat production globally.
“What that means ultimately is that food is gonna cost more,” said Adam Kamins, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.
“This is a geopolitical perfect storm and it’s not even full yet,” said Dr. Wojtek Wolfe, associate professor of political science at Rutgers University.
“The timing is really unfortunate from an economic perspective as well because we’re already in a high inflation environment. It could get pretty bad,” said Kamins.
Governor Tom Wolf called on congressional leaders to suspend the federal gas tax until the end of the year.
However, his office tells Action News he has no immediate plans to suspend the state gas tax which is nearly .59 cents a gallon.
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