Gas prices in Kalamazoo were sitting at just under $5 on Thursday.
While the U.S.’s war with Iran has been increasing gas prices for some time, the outage of a BP oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana on Sunday also contributed to the surge in Kalamazoo.
Erik Ruyes was keeping an eye on the pump as he filled up Thursday at a local Citgo gas station.
"My first reaction— I'm like, 'Oh f#@% this,'" Ruyes said.
Ruyes added that the increase has made him rethink upcoming trips.
“I was just thinking about going to Hastings. It was about an hour away from here. I'm like, I don't know whether, with these gas prices I probably won't go there too often now.”
At a Shell station on South Westnedge Avenue, Kalamazoo resident Justin Muse also spoke to the impact, saying that the increase over the past couple of months has made it harder to visit his family in Ann Arbor.
“I don't visit them often mostly because of the gas prices and I got an old car, so you know, I don't want to make that trip all the time.”
Parchment resident Scott Fletcher was filling up at a Rich gas station in Kalamazoo.
He said he’s hasn’t been affected much since he’s retired and doesn’t have to drive very often, but he added that his children certainly are.
“I have kids in their 30s and they're out doing their jobs. So that's just, you know, going to double how much money they spend on getting to and from the job.”
A BP spokesperson said the refinery has since returned to normal operations. But between the outage and the war it’s not clear what Kalamazooans will be paying for gas next week.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
