LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The price per gallon of diesel reached an all-time high Wednesday and the cost of regular gasoline neared record levels, according to data from AAA.
AAA reported Kentuckians paid an average of $4.01 per gallon of regular gasoline, just pennies away from the state's record. That record was set in July of 2008 when gas was $4.09 per gallon in Kentucky.
The price for regular gasoline jumped 8 cents from Tuesday and was up 66 cents from last week.
The price per gallon of diesel in Kentucky broke the state's previous record Wednesday, according to AAA, when drivers were paying an average of $4.78 per gallon of diesel fuel.
"I filled up last week for $3.09 a gallon," said driver Earnie Duty. "Now I'm paying $4.45 a gallon."
Duty, who fueled up in Louisville before heading home to northeastern Kentucky, said his family has already canceled a June trip out west because of the high prices.
"We had planned to go on vacation in San Francisco, but now gas prices out there are almost $6 a gallon so we'll be foregoing that vacation and probably more this year until things calm down," Duty said.
Economists said a surge in gas prices is typically followed by a rise in prices of other goods.
"Oil ends up being an input into a lot of the goods and services we produce, whether its actually direct input or simply used to transport goods from a manufacturer ultimately to a consumer," said Michael Clark, associate professor of economics at the University of Kentucky.
For example, the prices of common items found in the medicine cabinet could increase. That's because goods like burn ointment, allergy medicine and gummy vitamins are made with oil.
The cost of goods at grocery stores is already on the rise because of inflation.
Now the oil ban could increase those prices even more because fossil fuels are used in industrial fertilizer.
That could lead to a rise in the price of grain, meat, egg and dairy products rising.
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