‘It’s unbelievable’: As gas prices surge, so are frustrations at the pumps

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - It’s no secret that prices at the gas pumps are soaring, and a lot of people aren’t happy about it.

”It’s unbelievable. It took me $50 to fill up my Maxima,” said Robert Turner. “It’s outrageous.”

According to Triple A, the average cost for a gallon of gas in Mississippi costs $3.08, that’s for a gallon of regular unleaded. Turner said he fills up his tank twice a week.

However, with the price per gallon now skyrocketing, he said he’s feeling it in his wallet.

”That’s going to be $100 a week,” he expressed. But he’s not alone. As Lamont Lewis pumped gas into his truck, he said he was devastated by what he’s now having to pay.

Now he desperately wants those prices to come down. ”No, I never expected it to be this high,” said Lewis. “This my little run around truck I work in, I didn’t put nothing but, like, $20 in here, but I usually get more than six gallons. I guess that’s what it is right now with gas prices are the way they are.”

When it comes to what’s fueling the gas prices, state leaders said the pandemic forced oil and gas providers to shut down, which drives up the supply, and, in turn, cuts production.

Some state lawmakers also claim executive orders from the Biden administration have affected U.S. production of crude oil.

Meanwhile, for Turner, now that he’s paying extra for his gas, he’s thinking of other ways he can get around every day.

”I might be bicycling to work, we might carpool, that may be what we start doing,” Turner explained. “We carpooled today, so it might be an everyday thing.”

The demand for free gas was on display Wednesday. A radio station had a gas give away at the Kroger on I-55.

The Jackson Police Department had to be called in to direct traffic and lots of small crashes happened.