Des Moines, IA- Gas prices jumped up across the state just before this past weekend, but an expert says that the increases shouldn’t last long.
AAA Iowa spokesperson Brian Ortner tells Radio Iowa that OPEC’s announcement that they’re extending production cuts to the end of the year is one factor, as the price of crude oil topped $87 a barrel.
“If we look where we were a week or two weeks ago, we’re at that 77-dollar level. So there’s a big difference there,” he says. “And then we’re moving into a time of lower demand and some of our refineries are going into their scheduled maintenance.”
The maintenance lowers the production capacity. Ortner says there are several things that should keep the gas jump from being long-term.
“We’re out of the summer travel months, kids are back in school, we’ve got Saturday game day football — which means people are driving less, it means the demand is going down — so that should help to ease those prices in the short term over the coming days.”
Otrner’s advice is to understand that the hike is something that won’t last long.
“I know we don’t like seeing it, but let’s be patient,” he says. Some areas saw a jump of 70 cents on Friday.
