After a month of falling prices, the price at the pump is back to $3 a gallon.
"It's just a major psychological price point," said oil industry critic Charles Langley. "This is normally the time of year when gas prices plunge."
Instead of dropping, prices have gone up a nickel in seven days, according to the consumer group UCAN. People at the pump are taking notice.
"We need to have the gas, so we just cut on something else in the family and then pay the higher prices," said Brandi Paape as she filled up her car.
At the next pump, Mat Quinn said he wasn't sure why prices are climbing.
"I don't know whether it's the oil spill in the gulf or what it is," Quinn said. "It's really confusing to know why it fluctuates so much."
Langley said some experts are blaming a Tesoro refinery shutdown in Anacortes, Wash. At the same time the price for a barrel of oil has stayed above $80 during the last week. Many station owners don't like to see prices go up.
Local
"So right now we've got dealers who don't want to raise their price above $3 a gallon, but they're going to have to do it the next couple days," Langley said.
Diesel prices are rising even faster. Diesel fuel is used in everything from trucks to trains to planes, and those costs could be passed on to consumers through higher food prices.
