Prediction of $5 gasoline rattles Triangle-area drivers

By: Steve Sbraccia | NBC-17
Published: January 18, 2012
Updated: January 18, 2012 - 11:11 PM

A former top oil company executive predicts drivers will pay $5 per gallon for gasoline very soon.

Former Shell Oil president John Hofmeister says gas prices will spike as global demand for oil increases this year.

That news is being greeted with grimaces here in the Triangle.

In the 20 years Capital Creations Gourmet Pizza has been in business, it has prided itself on free delivery.

"We go out to about the Millbrook/Spring Forest area, we hit Hedingham and we do a lot downtown," said Capital Creations owner Jim Niver, as he pointed to a large area map on the wall of his store.

With up to a half dozen delivery people working on busy nights, he says $5 gas will hurt.

"We'd probably have to find a way to combine deliveries so that drivers can still make some money," Niver said.

As it is, Niver is already being hurt by fuel prices in more ways than one.

"We're facing higher costs already because shippers who bring our food are adding fuel surcharges and all sorts of fees you didn't expect, and we haven't passed that along to anybody," Niver explained.

Fuel costs not only take a bigger slice out of the pizza profit, they also take a bigger slice out of the average driver's budget.

"You have to cut back everything just to get to work," driver Venus Flores said as she filled up at a station on South Saunders Street.

"Five dollars?," driver Jennifer Ramirez questioned. "I find it expensive now."

Ramirez says she already pays about $40 on average at the pump, and she doesn't even fill her tank all the way.

Right now, current gas prices have some drivers already frustrated. And a $1.50 increase is worrisome.

"Five bucks a gallon is ridiculous," said driver Derrick Murphy. "Me and my wife are both working and we have a baby on the way, so she'll stop working. When that happens, I don't know what we'll do."

Other drivers say they know what they'll do at the $5 mark.

"If it goes that high, I'm going to be driving a lot less," declared driver Allen Sherrill.

But the prediction of $5 gas isn't embraced by everyone involved in the industry. Some analysts say demand for oil is still sluggish and gas prices won't hit the $5 mark in this country for at least 10 years.