Each year brings us new surprises, and 2022 has people hiding their wallets from gas stations. Gas prices have gone up an enormous amount over the past three months, but why?

  One of the two main resources for oil has been cut off due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Our ability to get the amount of oil we need as a country is very limited because Biden stopped getting our resources through Russia. With the low supply of oil, it costs more to supply and market which causes  the prices to go up so that the providers for the oil will continue making money. 

  According to the news, in 2000 gas was $1.51, in 2005 gas was $2.30, in 2010 gas was $2.79, in 2015 gas was $2.43, in 2020 gas was $2.67. From 2000 to 2020 gas prices have gone up and down. The lowest amount was in 2000, and the highest amount was in 2010. Overall in the past 22 years, gas prices have gone up to $4.99 per gallon. That’s not even the worst part. Each week the gas prices are climbing a few cents up which doesn’t sound bad until it reaches over $5.

The current state with the highest price for gas per gallon is California with $6.23 per gallon. The states that are more populated and along any coast seem to have higher prices; where the states that are less populated and more in the middle of the United Stated are reported to have lower gas prices of a total of $3.40 on average.

  If a worker earning minimum wage were to fill a 12-gallon tank of gas today, it would cost an entire day’s worth of pay. After everything goes up in price, especially gas, the minimum wage stays the same. At least in Oregon, it has stayed the same at $14.50 per hour, depending on the location in the state. People are really struggling with everything because most jobs require you to drive there but with minimum wage staying the same as gas prices going higher and higher people can barely afford to pay for a full tank of gas.

  Lets just hope that gas prices will go down sooner rather than later. People are already trying to stay off of roads, or are going to certain gas stations to get a lower price on gas. Citizens are hoping that these prices won’t last forever.