Drivers lined their vehicles up to rush the pumps.
Service station employees said they could only look on as one customer would leave while at least three more would take their place.
Gas prices will rise 15 to 20 cents per gallon, said the Michigan Petroleum Association/Michigan Association of Convenience Stores.
“I have had some calls from my members since this morning, they are worried about this,” said Mark Griffin, the association’s president
The market is reacting to the recent terrorist attacks to the United States, said John Griffin, the American Petroleum Institute’s executive director of associate petroleum industries in Michigan.
Officials are linking the incidents in New York and Washington, D.C., to Middle Eastern extremist groups. The area is also where much of the nation purchases its oil.
“Petroleum markets do not like uncertainty, and if the U.S. areas are under attack, especially like an incident today, the markets are going to react,” he said.
John Griffin recommended people hold off on purchasing gas if they do not need it for a couple of days.
Charles Ballard, an economics professor, said he was told the price of oil on the world market had gone up.
“This is a situation you would expect increases in fuel prices,” he said.
Ballard said tensions involving Middle East ties often lead to a rise in fuel prices. He said he couldn’t speculate how much the price will rise.
He said some people he knows are reacting to this situation with a sense of panic and hopes people will remain calm.
“I wouldn’t want to make a strong prediction, but in a time of crisis, markets act very strongly,” Ballard said.
The price increase comes after AAA of Michigan announced Monday fuel prices were 4.9 cents cheaper, ending four consecutive weeks of price increases.
Jim Rink, a AAA Michigan spokesman, said he couldn’t speculate if or why prices will rise.
“As you know, gas prices can react quickly, but we won’t know until Monday unless we do a special survey,” he said. “We hope oil companies won’t raise prices unnecessarily.”
Experts may not be able to give exact answers, but local service stations have customers lined up at the pump.
Jamie Nelson, assistant manager of Shriber’s Amoco Speedway, 7765 Old M-78, said customers were backed up to the road.
“We are at $1.54 right now, I am waiting 10 minutes and then raising it to $1.89, then $1.99 and then $2.09,” she said.
Nelson attributes the hike to the attack.
Susan Yoon, a cashier at the Sunoco Food Market, 111 E. Saginaw St., said the attack was probably only partially the cause for the price increase.
“Somebody in the area raised their prices, and so everyone else has to or we would run out,” she said.
Harry Niemczyk, a Wooster, Ohio, resident, was on his way home from visiting Manistee and MSU.
He had stopped at the Campus Marathon Service, 1198 S. Harrison Ave., to fill up his Buick Roadmaster station wagon.
“It’s crazy,” Niemczyk said. “There’s so many conflicting stories why gas prices are so high.”
Owner Julie Fedewa said business began to get busy about 3 p.m. and knows other places in Lansing that are at least $2.
“The only thing I can really compare this to is last summer, when prices started soaring,” she said. “But I’ve never seen anything like this.”
