MACON, Ga. — In Texas this week, winter storms and power outages shut down oil refineries and they're saying it could take weeks.
Could this cause Central Georgians to pay more at the pump?
When you went to grab the pump, did you realize the gas prices as you fueled up? That's because of oil refineries shutting down in Texas due to the winter storm.
This week, millions of Texans were left in the cold and dark for days. Businesses shut down, including oil refineries.
Todd Nordwig said, "Yeah, we were paying about $1.99 a gallon in Wisconsin and now it is up to about $2.50 in a short amount of time."
No one likes opening their wallet or watching the number rise, especially Nordwig.
He's driving through Macon to Florida to escape the 30-below temperatures back home, but he says the higher prices will affect his travel.
Nordwig also said, "It'll affect how far I am going to travel and even what I am going to do, even in my daily life in Wisconsin."
Theo Sassos of Forsyth says, between the winter storm and the pandemic, he isn't surprised at the rising gas prices.
Sassos said, "There's more people on the road now, because we are opening up from lockdown, so all of those contribute to $2.84."
Mercer University Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Antonio Saravia agrees the demand for gas is higher right now.
Saravia said, "The good news or the silver lining of this is most of this increasing price is going to come from increase and demand, meaning we ourselves are going to produce the increase in price as we go to the pump more often."
According to GasBuddy, refinery outages have shut down about 20 percent of the nation's oil refining capacity.
That's why prices are expected to rise 10 to 20 cents a gallon in the coming days, and experts say prices may get even higher.
Saravia also said, "That's going to be putting pressure on the price of gasoline, some sources are saying we could see $3 gallons this summer."
Experts say don't fuel up unless you truly need it because you'll only create a higher demand, which will in turn increase the gas prices.
According to Fox Business, gas prices have been rising for the past six weeks, but now as much as a 20 cent increase, per gallon, can be expected as Texas oil refiners try to resume normal operations.