Shani Bell has one word to describe gas prices — “horrible.”
Bell, a graphic design senior, said gas prices are “killing” her pocketbook.
She said she probably spends $100 a month on gas so she can travel back and forth between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Bell said she used to spend about $15 to $20 per tank of gas, but now she spends at least $30.
Tiffany Breaux, an art education junior, feels the same as Bell.
“I drive a lot,” Breaux said. “It’s been getting really bad.”
She said she does not understand why gas costs so much in Louisiana, when the state is known for its gas.
Like Bell, Breaux said she used to pay at least $15 to fill up a tank of gas, but now pays at least $20.
Priscilla Bradley, the manager of the Shell Station on Perkins Road, said the price of gas has increased by about two to three cents at her station.
Bradley said the station’s prices fluctuate within a week’s span.
She said the fluctuation depends on the prices of area competitors.
While the prices have increased, the amount of costumers coming into her station has stayed the same, Bradley said. A lot of the costumers have Shell credit cards, so they are repeat costumers.
Bradley said she has never heard costumers complain about the price of gas.
But, some costumers tend to notice the increase in gas before others, she said.
Bradley said gas prices have not affected her as much as they have affected other people, because she does not travel very far.
“I was thinking about getting an SUV, but I guess I’ll wait,” she said. “It will affect me that way.”
University students Meagan Hunt, an education sophomore, and Matthew Gaienne, a mechanical engineering junior, also said the increase in gas prices has not really affected them.
Gaienne said he lives close to friends and school so he does not need a lot of gas to go very far.
Hunt said since she has changed jobs, she does not need as much gas as she used to.
She also said she has learned to not use her air conditioner as much in order to save extra gas.
Hunt said it cost her about $15 every five days to fill her gas tank.
As gas prices are expected to increase within the next few months, students can turn to the Internet to find stations offering gas for lower prices.
Louisianagasprices.com offers a list of gas stations with the lowest and highest prices in the city of Baton Rouge.
The site, which is run by the GasBuddy Organization out of St. Paul, Minn., is one of 174 sites in the United States and Canada that help citizens find the cheapest gas prices in their hometown.
Jason Toews, the site’s cofounder, said he thought it was a great idea to set up a network of people who could help others find the cheapest gas prices in their cities.
“I have always been a gas enthusiast,” Toews said. “I was a little frustrated with the gas prices.”
He said he was frustrated because the gas stations would not tell him the price of gas over the phone.
Toews said his company has volunteers in each city who report the prices for each station.
He said the information is then put onto the site.
While his company is not affiliated with any economic service or company, Toews said they closely follow the industry.
This is the time of year that prices normally are at their lowest, he said. But it looks as if the prices will continue to climb within the next three weeks.
Toews said his company also analyzes the trends and their effects on the industry.
He said crude oil, which accounts for 45 percent of the cost of oil, cost about $37 a barrel — twice as much as last year’s price.
“Anytime our crude oil gets up this high, we see the prices affected at the pump,” Toews said.
According to his Web site, the one station with low gas prices is the Exxon Station located on Highland and I-10, with gas listed as $1.65. Bradley’s Shell station is listed as having one of the highest prices in the city.