NORFOLK, Va. — Trips to the pump may be taking a bigger chunk out of your wallet this weekend. As of Friday, gas prices are averaging $3.30 a gallon in Hampton Roads. It's a jump of nine cents from the day before.
Holly Dalby with AAA Tidewater describes it almost as a "perfect storm" of three separate factors happening at once.
“We’re seeing cost of crude oil over $80 a barrel. That’s adding to your price increase, plus warmer weather brings higher demand. And we’re switching to summer fuel blend which is more expensive of about 10 to 15 cents per gallon," Dalby said.
According to AAA officials, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is up to $3.41 per gallon. Over a one-week span, that's an increase of just 2 cents, but in a one-month span it's a 16-cent increase.
“I'm a performing artist and I work independently, my job consists of driving to Williamsburg back to Norfolk. Filling up the tank happens pretty frequently," Deon Ridley said outside of a Norfolk gas station. “It's bad enough food prices are up through the roof now, like come on, give us a break on the gas prices," he added.
In Hampton Roads, the price per regular gallon sits around $3.30, which is several cents below the statewide average of $3.34 while also being as high as 11 cents below the national average.
In comparison to this time last year, the average price of gasoline is five cents lower.