Here's a Newtonian corollary: What went down is going back up.
The Triangle average pump price for regular rose by 4 cents overnight to $1.680 today [update: $1.721 Thursday], after apparently bottoming out Jan. 2 at $1.572.
If the cheap ride is over, it was fun while it lasted.
A 15-gallon fill-up costs $25.20 in the Triangle today. That's less than half what we paid four months ago — $60.81, when a gallon sold for an excruciating $4.054.
You can still find regular around the Triangle today for less than $1.60, according to raleighgasprices.com.
But maybe not for much longer. Oil prices have risen more than 40 percent since their lowest point, $33 a barrel on Dec. 19. OPEC production cuts and Mideast tensions are getting some of the blame for the price increases.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter and editor since 1976, he took over the 
Comments
I think there is a lag
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 20:21 — Will999Between oil and gas. It takes a while for the oil to be refined ect., which is probally why them don't move exactly together. Not really sure, but kind of makes sense.
Anyway there are tools that you can use to limit your gas costs. I use gasbuddy.com and petrofix.com. With those two sites I don't really worry about it anymore.
Response to jonoflocke
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 16:13 — Jnelson09"That being said, anyone wanting to end his dependence on gasoline is welcome to do so voluntarily."
The heck he is. I have to drive because there's no other way to get from Clayton to Wake Tech. Or around Clayton itself, for that matter. On that note, I knew the low gas prices wouldn't last. Let's all just hope they don't get so high again. In other words, I can handle prices under $3/gallon.
M.E. is the current
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 16:07 — flolakeM.E. is the current excuse?
Bullchips.
Gasoline prices fluctuate
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 13:32 — jonoflockeIf you want to follow gasoline prices better, then follow gasoline futures, not oil futures. The price of oil is an important factor in the price of gasoline, yes, but it is not completely determinant. (See http://www.johnlocke.org/lockerroom/lockerroom.html?id=12650 for an example from 2007.)
That being said, anyone wanting to end his dependence on gasoline is welcome to do so voluntarily. Just please don't try to get politicians to force economic choices like that on everyone else; they are notoriously terrible at picking the right alternative. If they were taking risks with their own money, rather than setting policy with others' wealth at risk, they might be able to make decent decisions, but with themselves insulated from the consequences of their own decisions, they force on people such colossally bad ideas as ethanol: http://www.johnlocke.org/lockerroom/lockerroom.html?id=16083
We seriously need to get on with becoming energy independent!
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 13:06 — beyondgreenAnd here we go again!We can't take another year like this past.The high cost of gas seriously damaged our economy.I just read a profound book called The Manhattan Project of 2009 by Jeff Wilson. Among the things I learned that fascinated me is that it would cost the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon to charge and drive an electric car. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. Why don't we use some of the billions in bail out money to bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil? www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com I say drill our own oil and get started on getting renewable sources of energy set up. Oil is finite, it will run out one day in the not too distant future. We should never allow other countries to have tha much power over our economy.
Greed
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 11:47 — awoo1979Last I checked oil futures were around $45 a barrel. Gas should not be going up that much but all of the greedy oil companies and gas station owners will jack the price up if you give them any kind of excuse.
GAS PRICES
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 11:17 — BurneydudleyOf course they are going back up the elections are over and now the politicians don't have to worry about their positions!!!! Help us and do something now before prices go up you CROOKS!!!!!!
Surprise?
Wed, 01/07/2009 - 11:03 — LfagsA93Of course they will bounce back sometime. Best thing to do is to break our dependence and use less and less before we get caught again. Should have done that 30 years or more ago. Have to stop sending our wealth overseas, much of it to folks who don't like us. Concentrate, folks. This is important.