Media General News Service

Gas prices are inching up across North Carolina.

The average price for regular unleaded gas, $2.66 per gallon in North Carolina, is the highest the state has seen in the last six months, said Brendan Byrnes of AAA Carolinas.

That’s up 2 cents from the day before and 7 cents from a week before. The average price is exactly $1 higher than a year ago, Byrnes said.

Prices in Hickory ranged from around $2.63 to $2.66 Thursday.

Hope Hayes, 33, of Lenoir, opted for the $2.63 per gallon gas at the Raceway on Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard.

In the past few days, she’s seen prices go from around $2.45 to around $2.65. She makes the drive from Lenoir to Hickory for work every day.

“Even a little increase makes a nice big dip in my pocket,” she said.

Gary Duncan, 52, of Marion, stopped at the Raceway on his way home. He said gas there was $2.74 when he left town to see a doctor in Hickory on Thursday.

“It went up 15 cents in one day,” he said. “It’s

See GAS / Page 2A

Gas

Continued from Page 1A

hard but we’ve got to put up with it.”

Byrnes cited a number of reasons for prices at the pump.

A weak American dollar causes investors to invest in oil, which results in a price increase.

Increased manufacturing abroad, especially in China, indicates oil futures will go up, Byrnes said. Futures, or futures contracts, are agreements to buy or sell a commodity for a particular price at a set certain date.

Also, compared to the near-$4-a-gallon days, refineries are producing more gas than Americans in the grip of recession are using, Byrnes said.

Cold weather can affect the cost of gas, too. Refineries cut oil production for gasoline and move to heating oil production. And with the continuing cold spell, oil speculators take that as a sign gas prices might go up, according to Byrnes.

By the Numbers:

$1 - Amount the average price of gas increased in North Carolina between last Jan. 7 and Thursday

7 cents - Amount the average price of gas increased in North Carolina between last Thursday and this Thursday

2 cents - Amount the average price of gas increased in North Carolina between Wednesday and Thursday

Ragan Robinson is a staff writer with the Hickory Daily Record.