National rise in gas prices impacting Elmhurst University students

As of March 28, the average cost of gas in the state of Illinois is $4.49, according to AAA. Why is this happening and how is it affecting Elmhurst University students? 

As a popular commuter school, eight out of 10 randomly surveyed EU students said that this increase in gas prices has dramatically affected their budgets and they have had to readjust where and how they are spending their money.

“I’m a commuter, and every week I fill up my tank with $60, whereas before it was $45,” EU senior Kasia Koziol told The Leader. “I work part time for minimum wage ($12) and this is insane. I hope that it soon goes down because it seems all I do is work for gas and have only a couple dollars to go out with friends.” 

Students are scrambling to find the cheapest gas stations to fill up their vehicles, some even switching to public transportation or carpooling with friends. As to why this is happening, there are many political and economic influences causing this problem. 

“Regarding rising gas prices, I think it’s a combination of three things,” said EU assistant professor of economics, Avraham Baranes. “One, lack of competition: Despite what we want to believe, a lot of our oil prices depend on outcomes from imperfectly competitive markets — OPEC and other major gas providers (BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil) have significant sway over the price of oil and refined gas.”

Baranes also cited the war in Russia as a cause of the increase in gas prices.

“While the U.S. does not get much of its oil from Russia (I believe it’s in the three to five percent range, though I’d have to double-check those numbers), a lot of the rest of the world does, especially in the EU [European Union],” said Baranes. “Also, a lot of oil companies have divested themselves of their Russian oil holdings. This increases costs for those companies, which are then passed onto consumers.” 

Lastly, Baranes cited inflation as a cause of the increase.

“Part of the post-pandemic world has been a bout of general inflation, where prices for everything are rising. Oil and gas are part of this, which is why gas prices were already high, even prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”