AAA Carolinas expects over the next three months, the Grand Strand area will hit $3.00 a gallon for gas.
"There isn't anything that's pushing prices down. We see that it could go upward," Tom Crosby, VP of Communications for AAA Carolinas said.
Many gas stations in North Carolina have already hit the three dollar mark. As of Monday night, several stations across the Grand Strand were fairly close to the number three, but not quite. Two stations, a BP in Conway at 1040 SC-905 & Old Pireway Rd and a Sunoco in Garden City at 2464 US-17 Business & Ray Lane were charging the most: $2.99 a gallon.
Why the spike in prices? Oil rose close to $92 dollars a barrel Monday, near a two year high. Oil prices are poised to exceed $100 a barrel, which could send pump prices to $4 a gallon, the Associated Press reports. Oil prices ended the year above $91 a barrel after surging 34 percent since May.
Those prices are going up because of demand and speculation in oil futures overseas, and that creates a nightmare at the pump.
"I try to go from one gas station to the next to see if you can get something cheaper," James Ward said. "It always ends up 2 cents more. I think I should have stopped at the one back there."
Buddy Jones owns a construction company. He says it costs more than $70 to fill his truck up 1-2 times a week.
"It cuts down on everything," Jones said. "It cuts down on the employees, everything else."
When gas just keeps going up, experts say it starts to have a mental effect on travelers.
90 percent of the Grand Strand's tourists drive here each year. The typical tourist comes from about eight hours away, and areas in the midwest and northeast could possibly see gas prices closer to $4 a gallon. AAA says right now, the national average price for regular gasoline is $3.09 a gallon. That sticker shock might keep people closer to home.
"It won't affect those spur of the moment travelers," Gary Loftus, with CCU's Center for Economic development said. "But those people on a tight budget, it may affect them."
The record high price for regular gas in Myrtle Beach was $3.95 a gallon in September, 2008.
To find the cheapest gas prices in your area, click here for NewsChannel 15's Pump Patrol.
