Gas prices continue to rise sharply in the Rochester area and around the country.
AAA of Western and Central New York said that prices went up another 7 cents a gallon locally over the last week, and prices are up 15 cents over the last two weeks.
On Tuesday, gas in the Rochester area was averaging $3.45 a gallon.
Elizabeth Carey with AAA said that the increases that consumers are seeing largely relate to the sharp rise in the price of crude oil in the last couple of months, which is now over $80 a barrel.
“So if you look at prices compared to a year ago, it is now costing consumers about $17 more to fill up their vehicle; so that’s the cost of a large pizza or several morning coffees," Carey said. "And unfortunately it doesn’t look like drivers are going to get any relief at the pump anytime soon.”
Carey said normally, prices would start to fall this time of year into the winter as demand for gas drops, but with the price of oil staying high, she doesn't look for much relief in these high prices in the coming weeks.
“Now, normally prices would decline after Labor Day into fall, and then they would drop even further over the winter as the winter blend of gasoline is cheaper to produce,” Carey said. “But there are some forecasts out there from the international energy agency calling for a higher oil demand for the winter, especially with heating oil, so that could keep those crude oil prices up there.”
