NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — When it comes to cheap gas, some drivers will go the extra mile.
"For some reason this station's always like 20 cents cheaper than the one next to it," Nashville driver Grace Hartrick said about a gas station on Dickerson Pike. "I don't know why, but I'm not going to question it."
"It's the cheapest gas," Nashville driver John Gardner said. "Everywhere else it's $3.39 or $3.59. I don't know, it's just ridiculous."
As temperatures climb across the country, prices at the pump are climbing too. Since Monday the average price for a gallon of regular gas has gone up 20 cents in Nashville.
"It's very hot in the Gulf Coast where a lot our refineries are," AAA spokesperson Megan Cooper said. "So here in Tennessee the bulk of our gasoline comes from those Gulf Coast refineries through the Colonial Pipeline."
With temperatures soaring over 100 degrees for days on end, production has been cut down.
"So right now it's not that refineries are shutting down, it's just with that machinery they're not able to work as well as they would during normal temperatures," Cooper said.
Cooper said increased crude oil prices are also to blame.
"In the last week and last couple of days, we've seen some fairly significant increases in crude oil prices. The reason that that is important is the price that you see at the pump —crude oil prices account for a little over half of that price."
She said the combination of the two factors could keep prices climbing.
"We've seen a big jump the last two nights. It's likely that we could see similar increases in the short term over the next couple of days," she said.
"I know when you look at them and they keep going up it just ain't a good feeling," Gardner said.
But it's a feeling that could stick around for the foreseeable future.
