Gas prices keep surging in Chicago and beyond amid war in Iran
The war with Iran is causing gas prices to surge, with motorists in Chicago and around the country guaranteed to feel the impact at the pump Monday morning.
At a Shell gas station at Armitage and Damen avenues near the Kennedy Expressway Monday morning, prices hit $4.69 per gallon. The trend has quickly gained drivers' attention.
As of Monday, the average gas price was $3.79 per gallon within the city of Chicago, $3.67 in the suburbs, and $3.50 in Northwest Indiana, where gas is often cheaper in Illinois.
The Northwest Indian figure is still higher than the national average for a gallon of regular, which is about $3.45.
The increase comes ass global oil prices surge amid the escalating conflict involving Iran, a key player in the world's energy supply.
The price of crude oil has now climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022. It is driven by fears that the conflict could disrupt oil shipments from the Middle East.
Analysts warn that oil prices, and by extension gas prices, could keep rising if the conflict continues. But U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright had a more optimistic tone.
"They shouldn't go much higher than they are here because the world is very well supplied with oil," Wright said.
Mohammed, a small business owner, drives daily.
"Right now, gas is going up, and it's hard to kind of raise prices on the customers, because things are not great at this point. So to raise prices on the customers, it kind of like, it becomes unfair to them," he said. "You don't want to lose customers by raising prices. You try to stick with the price. At the same time you pay a little bit higher cash. So it doesn't help us very much, but we have to stick with it."
In another warning sign, diesel prices are also soaring. This matters because diesel powers the trucks, trains, and ships that deliver everything from groceries to online orders.
As shipping costs go up, experts say consumers could also see higher prices on shelves in grocery stores.
