These are the exact reasons why we ride our bikes to work!

Ridiculous” is the way many local drivers described Tuesday’s gasoline pump prices, as the American Automobile Association reported recordhigh prices on the national scale.

“They’re too high,” said Andrea Garcia, 60, who drives a fuel-efficient Pontiac Vibe to clean houses and to shuttle her 7-year-old grandson across town. “I remember when it was 25 cents a gallon.”

Kevin Lewis, 28, said he has considered selling his thirsty 1983 Buick LeSabre to buy a motorcycle, or even a bicycle, because he spends about $45 a week for his daily commute from Corpus Christi to Aransas Pass, where he works as a shrimp header.

“It’s outrageous,” Lewis said after pumping $15 worth of gas, or 6.5 gallons, at the Circle K-Citgo station at Crosstown Expressway and Tarlton Street.

There, prices were listed at about $2.29 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline.

The days of cheap gas prices likely won’t return anytime soon, analysts say, forecasting that higher prices could continue past the Labor Day holiday weekend should hurricanes disrupt Gulf of Mexico production and should decades-old U.S. refineries continue to experience hiccups in processing.

Through Labor Day, Sept. 5, prices could continue to rise, said Doug MacIntyre, senior oil analyst for the Energy Information Administration, an independent statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy.

“The base reason is we’re using as much demand as we can produce,” MacIntyre said, citing an example of an increase in futures market prices when the U.S. government closed its embassy and consular offices in Saudi Arabia.

“Without the spare capacity to respond to these events, even the perception of problems is enough to cause prices to go up.”

Craig Scotton, Corpus Christibased spokesman for more than 300 Circle K stores, said prices have remained unchanged since Friday.

Courtesy of Caller.com