Long Island Gas Prices Surge Ahead Of Memorial Day

With Memorial Day weekend just days away, gas prices have been steadily climbing at the pump and recently broke $3 a gallon across Long Island — the highest gas prices for Memorial Day since 2014, according to AAA.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline on Long Island is $3.112, according to AAA. That's way up from this time last year, where the average price was $2.524 per gallon. That puts Long Island over the New York average price of $3.076 and the national average of $2.932.

AAA says that gas prices in New York have jumped about seven cents in the last week alone. And the increase comes despite lower gasoline usage compared to last year.

Long Island was teetering on the $3 mark earlier this month. A poll conducted by AA in April showed that gas passing $3 a gallon would be the tipping point at which drivers started to make changes, like driving less or spending less money on other things.

“When demand goes down, price usually follows," said Robert Sinclair, Jr., manager of media relation for AAA Northeast. "But, there are countervailing forces at work that will probably pressure prices higher in the near-term."

What's causing the increase? It's hard to say. But one factor may be President Trump's negation of the Iran nuclear deal. Experts predicted that, if the president pulled out of the deal, crude oil prices would jump, and gasoline prices would follow soon after.

Oil prices have been edging up as of late, AAA said, and are likely to continue to do so for the near future.

What do you think of the gas prices? Are you going to make any spending changes to afford gas? Let us know in the comments.

To see the full AAA report on New York's gas prices, click here.

Photo: Ashley Ludwig/Patch