Oil supplies worldwide have been affected since the U.S. joined Israel in attacking Iran. As a result, gas prices across the country have increased over the past week, and Phoenix is no exception.
Julian Paredes is a spokesperson for AAA in Arizona and said the uncertainty of the ongoing conflict in Iran is driving up costs.
“Ultimately it really just comes down to supply and demand. And this conflict is threatening the supply side for a big part of the world. And that’s that concern is enough for people to or businesses to raise their prices,” Paredes said.
Paredes said while prices usually tend to rise in the spring, it is unclear when prices will decrease while conflicts in the Middle East continue.
The quick increases could put more pressure on resident’s monthly expenses, according to Paredes.
“You have to get to work. You have to drop your kids off to school. You have to get groceries. That’s a cost that everybody has to account for in their day-to-day budget,” Paredes said.
Paredes recommends a few tips to reduce costs.
“One thing is maximizing the fuel economy in their car. So easy things like slowing down, making sure your tires are properly inflated, finding cheap gas stations with phone apps,” Paredes said.
“Those are all things that are within your control that you could do right now that can kind of mitigate this price jump because we can’t control the cost of gas.”
