By Mike Rush
St. Louis (KSDK) - Katrisha Hutchens may live in Illinois, but she gases up on this side of the river.
"I get gas here in Missouri on my way home from work instead of Illinois because it's about 20 cents higher in Illinois," said Hutchens.
But according to GasBuddy.com, that 20 cents she's saving now could be added to the price of a gallon of gas in the metro area by the weekend. The website's senior petroleum analyst is predicting a hike as much as 5 to 20 cents per gallon.
A refinery fire in Washington state is boosting prices along the west coast, but the force in play in the Midwest, says GasBuddy, is supply and demand.
"If there are more buyers than there are sellers, well that pushes the cost up and as it turns out, at least at this point, there are more buyers than there are sellers," said Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy.
Dorris Dixon, who also lives in Illinois but gases up in Missouri, said, "I would hope that we could somewhere along the line get some of this under control, but I can't see it."
And if prices go much higher, Hutchens could see a change in her travel habits.
"I'll be looking for someone to carpool with too and from work," said Hutchens.
GasBuddy says prices could approach four dollars by the summer.
KSDK