As gas prices across the country skyrocket over $4 per gallon, LSU students are feeling the pain.

Rising gas prices can be attributed to two factors: the continuing economic recovery from the pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian crisis, according to LSU energy professor Greg Upton. 

Political science sophomore Drew Prude currently spends about $45 to fill his Honda Civic’s 10-gallon tank. He said during last semester he managed to only spend about $20 a fill.

Prude and his friends had to cancel their travel plans to Georgia for spring break, primarily because of gas costs.

“We had a road trip planned and that got canceled,” Prude said. “We thought, ‘this is going to be the most expensive road trip ever.’”

Prude covers the difference of his gas by cutting into money allocated for fun as well as digging into his long-term savings.

“You clearly have to cut down on some things, but I’m still living pretty well. I don’t have to worry about not being able to pay for food or tuition or any of that because of gas,” Prude said.

Prude’s job with the LSU art museum in downtown Baton Rouge demands that he drives there in his car, given a lack of pedestrian and bike pathways. At other times, he’s trying to incorporate riding a bicycle as a cost-effective alternative to commuting via car to campus.

Mechanical engineering freshman Hannah Smith said that her options are limited. She doesn’t know anyone she could carpool with and chooses to commute to campus very early to avoid the frustration of wasting gas in the parking process.

The process of what should be a 20-minute drive, according to Smith, can turn into something closer to 40 minutes, given chronic traffic congestion in Baton Rouge.

“I only have a certain amount of money. Sometimes I only fill it up to a certain ways so I can go out,” Smith said. “It’s just driving less. Outside of school, I try not to drive.”

Like Smith, math sophomore John Honeycutt said that carpooling isn’t an option, though he wishes there were better options to his current predicament.

“I can’t really get a ride from anybody because all the people I know are very close to campus while I live far away,” Honeycutt said.

Honeycutt is relying on financial help from his parents to cover gas. Unavoidable traveling between his job and LSU has proven to be expensive–about a month’s worth of driving has amounted to $200.

“The first factor was COVID-19,” Upton said. “When it hit, the demand for liquid fuels reduced dramatically. This would lead to a precipitous decline in the price of oil. When companies see a big decline in the price of oil, they stop drilling. Whenever the price starts to come up again, companies will have to start drilling again.”

This lag time, Upton described, between the processes of stopping and starting the production of oil can exacerbate price trends in either direction.

The other factor Upton describes is the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

“Russia is the second largest producer of oil globally, the second largest producer of natural gas. Countries are putting sanctions on the Russian economy. Individual companies, although there aren’t sanctions on oil and gas, are choosing not to purchase oil from Russia,” Upton said. “What you’re seeing is whether that oil will be on the market in upcoming months. Also, companies are going to higher cost options of purchasing from other places.”

Upton anticipates that gasoline prices will stagnate for the next month and then begin a decline to a range of $3 per gallon. He expects that this process, called backwardation, will occur over the next six months to a year.