Will We Have to Pay $5 For a Gallon Gas in Michigan? It’s Possible!

So, did your eyeballs pop out of your head when you drove pas a gas station yesterday? Mine sure did because gas jumped about 20 cents a gallon higher in one day. Yikes! Ouch! What the ....?

HIGHEST PRICE OF GAS IN GRAND RAPIDS

I spotted $4.79 a gallon around West Michigan as I'm sure many of you did. And, the depressing sign is that we keep hearing predictions of reaching $5 a gallon soon. More, Yikes! Ouch! What the ....?

The GasBuddy app shows a high of $4.79 throughout much of Michigan, but not everywhere. COSTCO is at $ 4.44, Sam's Club at $4.39, and Mobil on Alpine in Comstock Park is showing $4.31. But, they probably can't be far behind another price increase.

PRICE OF GAS IN CALIFORNIA

However, we are better off, if you want to count it that way, than California. There, the average price is a whopping $6.17 a gallon!! And, closer to home, Chicago is averaging $5.19 or more a gallon. Whew!

PRICE OF GAS IN CHICAGO

The heartland of the country, Nebraska, Iowa, Dakota's and more are catching a break  averaging at between $4.18 and $4.29.

So, what's the cause? It's complicated, but of course, the Russian invasion of The Ukraine has a lot to do with it. People will say, we, the U.S., aren't dependent on Russian oil, and that's true, but the price of oil on a per barrel basis is factored on a global market, and since many European countries are so dependent on the Russians, not only for oil but for natural gas as well, the markets went crazy and drove everything up. And, that's only a small piece of the complicated "price of gas puzzle."

DO WE JUST HAVE TO 'PUMP AND 'BEAR' IT?

Is there relief in sight? Forbes says right now, no. No experts see an end to this at this time. Maybe if we stop driving so much, and demand drops, that will spur oil prices to drop. But for now, those invested in oil stocks are reaping big rewards and we, the little guy on the end of a gas pump, are paying the price.