Gasoline prices are high and only going higher for the foreseeable future.
It's a pattern repeating itself throughout the country this spring, particularly in the Midwest. With national gasoline supplies already running about 5 percent behind last year's levels, a major weekend fire at the Tosco Refinery near St. Louis put a significant crimp in the Midwest's production capacity. Tosco usually produces 300,000 barrels of gas per day for the Chicago and St. Louis areas, but the fire more than halved its capacity. Wholesale prices shot up, and that does have an effect on us here. How much higher prices will go locally is anyone's guess.