If you have been to the gas pumps lately, and of course you have, you have noticed that gas prices are creeping up. According to AAA, the average price across the state is $4.47 per gallon. With Bristow'a prices going for $3.19 a gallon, the State of Oklahoma is considered to be the fourth lowest state in price. Across the state, gasoline prices are surging, reaching the highest levels in eight years. With cold weather upon us, prices tend to drop but not this year. It hasn't been this high at this time of year since 2014. This is not due to demand-driven but it is supply-driven. Oil traders are anxious over the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, so they have bid up the price of crude oil to more than $90 a barrel. What does that mean for the consumer? Higher prices at the pump.
As inflation rises, so due the cost of groceries, gasoline, homes and cars. The cost of living for the average family has risen an extra $276 a month. Home prices have jumped 20 percent while the price of a new vehicle has risen by 12 percent. Credit card balances increased by $52 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, this is the largest quarterly increase ever recorded.