DETROIT — A gas station off I-75 in Detroit is charging $6.09 per gallon — more than a dollar above the state average — leaving drivers frustrated and, in some cases, with no alternative but to pay up.
According to GasBuddy, the state average for gas is about $4.80 a gallon. The Amoco station on Warren Avenue is charging about $1.30 more than that.
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The price nearly left Morgan Esters speechless.
"That's expensive, very expensive," Esters said.
Despite the sticker shock, Esters said she had no real choice.
"I stopped because there was traffic on the freeway and I'm on E so I don't really have a choice. Either I run out of gas on the freeway or I stop and get six dollar gas," Esters said.
She said she only filled up enough to make it back home.
"I'm only going to get 10-20 dollars just to get home because that's outrageous," Esters said.
About 3 minutes down the road, another gas station also off the highway is selling gas at $4.99 a gallon.
When asked why prices at the Warren Avenue Amoco are significantly higher than other stations in the area, the owner declined to answer.
"No comment unfortunately," the owner said.
Fellow driver Gin Watkins said the prices feel arbitrary.
"The prices like they making up their own prices. Ya know. After so long makes you want to jump on a bike and get around the best way you can," Watkins said.
Watkins said he just wants relief.
"It really make you mad, but ain't nothing you can do about it. I just hope it drop back down and come back regular. It's hard, a lot of people don't have money like that," Watkins said.
For diesel drivers, the situation is even more dire. GasBuddy reports the average price per gallon of diesel is about $6.84. However, GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan posted on X saying in part, "Price drops should start very soon if they have not already and they will be noticeable."
Dr. Michael Greiner, a professor at Oakland University, said prices are climbing as global conflict, including the war with Iran, continues and inventory dwindles.
"Just yesterday, we set a record for diesel prices which is something that's been brutal for manufacturers and for farmers. So you can see where those costs will come down the line to us as well," Greiner said.
Greiner said drivers had been shielded from the increases — until now.
"Part of which is driving the cost right now is that we have been kind of been insulated from these price increases for some time because of inventories that have been built up. But now we have pretty much been through those inventories so there is not much insulating us," Greiner said.
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