High Gas Prices Hit Oxford

Some Residents Change Driving Habits, Carpool

Gas prices at the Chevron station at Lamar Street and University Avenue.

If you think gas prices are going to go down anytime soon, you may want to take a look at the calendar. As summer approaches, the price of gasoline is expected to rise even further.

The average price may rise to around $4.25 by the end of May, then fall to $3.75 by the end of summer, according to oil analyst Jim Ritterbusch, in an interview with the Associated Press.

Oxford residents already feel the pinch of high gas prices. Ellie Boyd, an Ole Miss student from Chattanooga, Tenn., says she will have to change her driving habits after recently buying an SUV.

“Me and my twin both share this car. We have to save gas and money driving around Oxford and I don’t think I’m going to be driving as much as I used to,” Boyd says.

Ketrick Boles of Oxford says he now carpools to work in order to deal with gas prices.

“One driver drives the car each week, and the next week, the next person drives,” Boles says.

As of Thursday, the average price of regular unleaded gas in Mississippi is $3.76 per gallon, well below the national average of $3.98.

Tina Lipsey, who manages the Chevron station at Lamar Street and University Avenue, says the rise in gas prices had a slight impact on business at first, but eventually improved.

“As long as I kept my gas prices competitive with the other gas stations around us, our business seemed to pick back up,” Lipsey says.

Lipsey also says the Double Decker Festival brought plenty of business to the station, which further compensated for the dip in sales.

Meanwhile, Boyd believes there will not be a quick fix for the high prices. “There’s going to have to be something incredible, like an alternative fuel. I mean it’s the only solution,” Boyd says.