Columbia gas prices are still rising as key oil transportation routes remain closed due to the U.S. and Israel war with Iran.
According to AAA, the average price of regular gasoline in Columbia is up 70 cents from a month ago.
Though some drivers can take steps to save gas, industries such as transportation and delivery need sufficient gas to operate.
Robert Griffith said that his business, Emperor’s Shuttle and Taxi Service, is absorbing the full cost of the price increase without passing it onto customers.
“There's really nothing you can do,” Griffith said. “I mean, short of making wrong turns and going out of your way, we're just dealing with it. It's not like it's went up a dollar or a dollar fifty.”
Former University of Missouri economist Peter Meuser said gas prices are tied to what the gasoline industry predicts will happen to oil availability.
“When the president says one thing and people interpret that as indicating that things are about to let up, that we're going to be able to import oil easily, the markets respond,” Meuser said. “And it doesn't matter what actually happens in the short run.”
The national average gas price rose above four dollars this week, the highest it’s been since 2023.
The International Energy Agency moved to use some oil from reserves with hopes to ease the price increases until the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil route, reopens. Meuser said this may slow gas price hikes for Columbia drivers.
