Gasoline Hits $3.63 Per Gallon In Groton: "It's Pretty Outrageous"

If you ask Joshua Terry, it’s time the government stepped in and did something about the price of gasoline.

“It’s pretty outrageous,” he said. “I think places should have unified prices. I shouldn’t be able to drive up the road and find it 10 cents cheaper.”

The American Automobile Association's website reported the average price of a gallon of gasoline in Groton hit $3.59 Wednesday, but several stations set it higher. The price was up from $3.44 last week, and $2.80 six months ago, AAA said.

“Gas should be a controlled commodity. Everybody uses it,” Terry said, adding that the government "steps in everywhere else. They gave all these banks millions of dollars.”

Rick Avery, of Ledyard, said he bought gas in Rhode Island for 30 cents less on Tuesday.

“I’m about ready to move to Rhode Island,” said Avery, a landscaper who is out of work.

Jacklyn Ghergurovich, a AAA spokeswoman, said political trouble in the Middle East, particularly Libya, is causing prices to jump.

Libya halted oil exports on Feb. 23, according to Ghergurovich.

"They declared a 'force majeure,' which essentially relieves them of their contractual obligations to export oil to countries they have contracts with, due to circumstances beyond their control," she said.

Connecticut's gas prices have increased by 13 cents in the past month.

 “It’s getting not affordable, especially for a single (parent) household,” said Sara Diop, who lives in Mystic and supports her daughter on one income by working as a medical assistant in Norwich.

Since gasoline is a necessity, she has to find other places to cut. “You just can’t do as much,” she said.

By the end of January, Ghergurovich said she was starting to see predictions of increased gas prices due to the conflict in Egypt. The conflict boiled over into Libya and gasoline prices kept rising. 

The United States gets most of its oil from eastern Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria, she said.

"It pretty much all gathers in New Jersey and is refined there," she said. Europe, by comparison, receives 85 percent of Libya's oil exports, and will be affected more, she said. 

Kenneth Fish, of Groton, said he remembers when gasoline cost less than $1 per gallon.

“Of course, that was about 75 years ago,” said Fish, who is 86 years old.

 “I have a motor home sitting out there. Where am I going to go with it?’

If things get worse, government and corporate agencies have strategic petroleum reserves and emergency stock piles which have not been tapped, Ghergurovich said.

"It's impossible to predict where the prices are going right now,” she said.  “Political strife and struggle, (and) demand play a part in the the price of gas. Demand has been up because consumer confidence is up. " She said the strength of the U.S. dollar in foreign markets also plays a role in gas prices.

 "One thing to keep in mind about future gas prices,(is)  India and China have growing middle classes that will also be buying gas. It all depends on who's gonna need it, who's gonna want it and who's going to be able to pay for it."