Prices at the pump surge in San Mateo County

According to AAA, which tracks gas prices as a consumer service, the average price for a gallon of gas in San Mateo County is $5.41.

John Treanor, a spokesman for AAA Northern California said the increase in prices is mostly due to hurricane season, which affects the oil refineries’ production.

“Most of the country is seeing gas prices going down and it shows you that there is light at the end of the tunnel, once production is up you should see prices going down again,” Trainor said.

Comparatively, the country average is $3.77 per gallon of regular unleaded fuel, around 10 cents cheaper than prices were over Labor Day weekend.

Saudi Arabia and Russia extended voluntary oil production cuts through the end of the year, which will cut 1.3 million barrels of crude oil out of the global market and boost prices, according to the Associated Press.

As of Tuesday, Sept. 5, West Texas Intermediate, Cushing, Oklahoma, crude oil was $86.74 per barrel, a $5.53 increase over the span of a week. Comparatively, WTI crude oil was priced at $76.07 per barrel in July, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Crude oil represents around 50% of what people pay at the pump. When prices go up, consumers pay for it at the pump, Trainor said.

“When crude oil goes up, gas goes up,” Trainor said.

Boris Bravo, who was filling gas in his vehicle at the Chevron on Polhemus Road in San Mateo, Wednesday, said he noticed the hike in prices last month.

“Particularly affects me a lot because I work doing roof inspections so I need to drive everywhere,” Bravo said.

The prices at the Chevron in San Mateo were $5.89 per gallon of regular unleaded fuel and Bravo said he has to deal with the prices because he can’t afford to buy an electric car.

Joseph Vendrell, who was filling up at the same Chevron on Wednesday, said he was surprised to see the price at the pump. He said he is just going to wait it out and it affects him because he commutes more than 40 miles per day. He said he would find a way to carpool if prices became too expensive because public transportation is unreliable and unsafe.

However, Trainor believes the high prices shouldn’t stick around too long.

“Once hurricane season is over then you should see refineries producing again and prices going down,” Trainor said. “It’s simply a supply-and-demand issue.”

Gas prices should decline by early November because the winter blend will arrive, which is a cheaper fuel, Trainor added. Summer-grade gasoline has a lower volatility than winter-grade gasoline to limit emissions that normally increase with warm weather and cause unhealthy ground-level ozone, according to the Department of Energy.