Why gas prices will keep rising this summer

Your summer road trip will cost you more this year thanks to higher gas prices.

Posted 11:30 a.m. May 15, 2018 — Updated 11:36 a.m. May 15, 2018

RALEIGH, N.C. — Road trips will cost more this year thanks to higher gas prices.

Experts say it's normal for prices to surge over the summer because more people are out on the roads, but economists say there is now a lower supply of oil, which is a perfect recipe for high prices.

Experts say one big factor is the end of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Suppliers, particularly in the Middle East, are squeezing productions lower in order to get price higher.

Gasoline prices, which generally follow oil prices, have jumped to a national average of $2.81 a gallon, according to AAA. A gallon of gas went for $2.34 a year ago. The typical family will spend about $200 more this summer driving season, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

North Carolina is currently below that average -- at $2.72.

"It will be more painful for motorists than the past two years - but nothing close to 2011 to 2014 when it was $3.40 to $3.60 a gallon," said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS.

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