Columbus-area gas prices hit record high — again

Patrick Cooley, The Columbus Dispatch
·3 min read

Fear over the war in Ukraine pushed gas prices to record highs in Greater Columbus yet again on Thursday.

The average price of gas in Franklin County was $4.48 per gallon, according to AAA, compared with $4.47 per gallon for the entire state and $4.58 per gallon for the nation as a whole.

Even with gas prices seemingly on the rise every day, Columbus-area residents still find themselves astonished at the price to fill their tanks.

“Just the other day I paid $105 to fill up my (Ford) Expedition,” said Jeff Johnson, 49, of Westerville. I’ve never paid triple digits before.”

Ohio gas prices: Pain at the pump: Columbus drivers paying record prices to fuel up

Johnson was so amazed he took a picture of the final tally and texted it to family members.

“I was looking underneath (the SUV) to see if gas was spilling out,” Johnson said.

Gas prices around Columbus averaged $4.48 on Thursday, while a price of $4.51 was seen at the Thurber Village Market BP gas station in the city's Victorian Village neighborhood.
Gas prices around Columbus averaged $4.48 on Thursday, while a price of $4.51 was seen at the Thurber Village Market BP gas station in the city's Victorian Village neighborhood.

How much have gas prices increased in Franklin County?

Franklin County’s prices are up 18 cents from a week ago and 70 cents from a month ago, according to GasBuddy.com.

The forces behind have been simmering for more than a year, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for Gasbuddy.

Oil producing countries cut capacity as much of the world shut down at the onset of COVID.

Gas prices around Columbus averaged $4.48 on Thursday for a gallon of regular gas, while a price of $4.49 was seen at a BP gas station at North High Street and West Henderson Road in the city's Clintonville neighborhood.
Gas prices around Columbus averaged $4.48 on Thursday for a gallon of regular gas, while a price of $4.49 was seen at a BP gas station at North High Street and West Henderson Road in the city's Clintonville neighborhood.

"OPEC increased production, but it still has not matched global demand," De Haan said.

And the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which supplies 10% of the world’s oil, only made matters worse.

The disruption caused by the war is putting upward pressure on oil prices and talk of a ban on Russian oil doesn’t help, said Kimberly Schwind, director of public affairs for AAA Ohio.

“It boils down to uncertainty in the global crude oil market,” she said. “There’s growing market worries that there will be sanctions against Russian oil in Europe that would disrupt the global supply.”

Why are gas prices high in Ohio and the United States?

Earlier this month, the European Union unveiled a proposal for a Russian oil ban that would come into effect later this year. Oil suppliers preemptively raised prices in anticipation of a shortage, Schwind said.

Mike Rademacher of Westerville adds about 10 gallons to fill up his Dodge Ram Promaster Class B motorhome at the Costco gas station at Polaris on Columbus' Far North Side in Delaware County. "I keep it topped off," he said. Rademacher reported that the motorhome only averages about eighteen miles per gallon on the highway, but added that he and his wife have several road trips planned this summer. "We're going to use it. This is retirement. This is what I worked my whole life for."

Driving habits also contribute to high costs, she said, such as rapid starts from traffic lights.

Another reason prices generally rise at the start of the busy late spring-early summer driving season is the switch in refinery blends between winter gasoline and summer gasoline.

Winter gasoline requires a higher Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) to help gasoline ignite in the engine in the cold.  Refiners often use cheaper butane additives to raise the RVP. But RVP levels are restricted between June 1 and Sept. 15 by federal law because they contribute to more polluting emissions.

As a result, refineries must drastically reduce their butane additive and replace it with more expensive additives that take longer to blend, increasing the cost of gasoline at the pump.

And Ohioans shouldn't expect any relief from those higher prices in the near future.

"I don't expect any meaningful improvement until the Russia situation improves," De Haan said.

Johnson, a real estate agent, frequently travels for work and gets reimbursed for gas. However, his wife, an insurance broker, doesn’t get compensated for the mileage she drives.

“It’s cutting into the budget a little,” he said.

Costco gas station attendant Jack Holt assists a customer at the warehouse chain's Polaris location on Columbus' Far North Side in Delaware County. Costco matches gasoline prices within five miles of each of its three Greater Columbus locations, with gas at the Easton location generally slightly lower than the Polaris and Dublin locations.
Costco gas station attendant Jack Holt assists a customer at the warehouse chain's Polaris location on Columbus' Far North Side in Delaware County. Costco matches gasoline prices within five miles of each of its three Greater Columbus locations, with gas at the Easton location generally slightly lower than the Polaris and Dublin locations.

Jack Holt, 25, works at Costco's Polaris warehouse location on Columbus' Far North Side in Delaware County. Costco and other warehouse chains sell gas only to members and generally have cheaper gas prices than competitors.

When gas prices shot up over the weekend, Holt said customers flocked to the Costco Polaris station to fill up before prices rose even higher.

“There were a lot of people pulling jerry cans out of their cars,” Holt said. “We needed an extra person just to guide traffic.”

Holt said he anticipates a similar scene this weekend.

Dispatch photojournalist Barbara J. Perenic contributed to this story.

pcooley@dispatch.com

@PatrickACooley

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus-area and Ohio gas prices hit record high of $4.48