Expect To Pay More At The Pump This Memorial Day Weekend
NEW STANTON, Pa. (KDKA) -- Expect to pay more at the pump if you're going out of town this Memorial Day weekend.
Gas prices are the highest they've been in about seven years, but AAA estimates 37 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home between Friday and Monday.
That's up 60 percent from last Memorial Day weekend, when we were just a few months into the coronavirus pandemic.
According to AAA, a gallon of unleaded in the Pittsburgh area is currently $3.19. Nationally, it's $3.04
Why is this happening?
Worldwide demand for petroleum products is going up, and places like Saudi Arabia and Russia are still holding back in production. But the travelers KDKA spoke to said it doesn't matter how high the price of gas gets. They have places to go and people to see.
"I'm going to Dayton and then I'm going back to Philadelphia," said one traveler.
"We put 1,000 miles on the car this weekend and back. It's been expensive," said another traveler.
Petroleum analysts and AAA expect prices to stay around $3 a gallon through the summer.