Gas prices are sucking us dry

Gasoline prices continue to climb to unbelievable heights as the holiday weekend approaches.

The Memorial Day weekend is the traditional kickoff of the summer season, a time when beachgoers inch their cars down crowded highways to overtake the Jersey Shore. It is also a time when gasoline prices begin to climb. As the demand for gasoline goes up, so does the price.

This year, however, the price of gas began skyrocketing months before the start of the summer season.

Drivers have been suffering at the pump recently, as the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas has jumped about 30 percent in a matter of a few months. What was once a $20 fill-up at the gas pump in January now costs drivers about $27. With all of the SUVs in New Jersey sucking up gas at anywhere between 10 and 20 miles to the gallon, those extra dollars add up quickly and drain the wallets of drivers.

Driving up to the pump is infuriating, but motorists can’t get mad at the station owner, because they aren’t making any money off the profits.

It seems the only ones benefiting from the price gouging are the oil companies.

The same oil companies are also partially responsible for the gas price hikes. They say that they don’t have the storage capacity to meet the demands of Americans. Well, why don’t they? This isn’t the first time oil companies have claimed that a lack of storage facilities have caused high gas prices.

Maybe if the oil companies took some of the outrageous profits they gain at the little guy’s expense and put it into increased storage facilities, we wouldn’t run into this problem again in the near future.

But what incentive do the oil companies have? When the companies are raking in the profits day after day that result from their lack of commitment to adequately serve their customers, why should they?

Profits or ethical business practice? Once again, profits come out on top, to the detriment of drivers and anyone with oil heat and oil-heated hot water.

The gasoline experts say that earliest we may see any relief in the ever-increasing gas prices is after Labor Day. If something isn’t done to lower the gas prices before that time, we may be looking at paying a record-high $2.50 for a gallon of regular unleaded in no time.