SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)— It did not take long for gas prices to skyrocket after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and for a while prices were constantly climbing.
Syracuse University basketball star Buddy Boeheim isn’t the only one who is feeling the stress of the steep gas prices as he joked about a possible alternative.
“I’m going to start riding a bike around campus,” Boeheim said.
As of right now the national gas average is $4.09, according to the American Automobile Association. This is down three cents from the previous week.
It should be no surprise that most drivers are not pleased with the new prices.
“I really don’t like them right now, it’s like double the price of what they used to be a year ago,” Jared Shaw said.
But why is gas so high? According to senior vice president of fuel supply Justin Fisher, the current Russia-Ukraine crisis has multiple countries turning to the same place for oil.
“Now Germany or other European nations may be trying to cut back where they buy their crude and not buy as much from Russia. Now they need to go buy it from the same places we do or buy it from us. So essentially, you’re biding against the other countries or individual refineries for the same barrel,” Fisher said.
There is usually the conception that the more you pay for something, the better the quality. According to Stony Brook University economics professor Juan Carlos Conesa, this is true when it comes to gas.
“The high prices play a social role in diverting people from dirty sources of energy to new much cleaner sources of energy,” said Conesa.
According to The Wall Street Journal, some European nations are looking to Qatar as an alternative to Russian gas. However, switching oil providers is not a quick process.
“That takes time, it’s not something you could do like that and just change providers on the spot,” Conesa said. “That doesn’t happen, which is why we are stuck with high prices for a while.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, electric cars may be cheaper compared to the current gas prices. Electric car owners are paying approximately $9 for a full charge.