In San Antonio, the average price of gas has risen to $2.10 for a gallon of unleaded fuel. Drivers in San Antonio are paying six cents more per gallon than they did last week, and 40 cents more than last year at this time.
Christal Martinez is getting gas at a Citgo station in the Medical Center, on the city’s northside. Martinez works as a marketing coordinator who talks to homeowners about home improvements.
“It’s definitely alarming for me just because I drive a lot for my profession for work, so every time I see it go up that’s just money out of my pocket, which with this economy you’re basically living paycheck to paycheck,” Martinez says. “A little bit more taken out of your pocket is definitely hard.”
Doug Shupe is the Texas/ New Mexico Representative for AAA. He attributes the rise in cost to last fall’s OPEC deal that promised to cut oil production. Although drivers are now paying more at the pump, Doug Shupe says San Antonians have it good compared to the rest of the state.
“In the Alamo city, drivers are paying among the cheapest gas prices in the state,” Shupe says. “Only El Paso drivers are paying less than what the municipal average is in San Antonio, so at $2.10 that is the second cheapest of the major metropolitan areas that we survey in Texas.”
Shupe says drivers can use less gas by getting regular oil changes, lightening vehicle loads and obeying speed limits.