SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diegans are now paying $6.02 per gallon. That's one cent more than the record set back in March.
"This is the highest we've ever had to deal with, and it is a big expense for our company," Olga Worm said.
Worm is the CEO of Bekker's Catering, which caters for events across San Diego.
"Sometimes two vehicles or three vehicles need to go on an event to get all of the crew there and all of the food there so it could cost us 500, 800, 1000 dollars just on gas for an event," Worm said.
Worm said they've had to increase their prices for future bookings due to inflation and rising gas prices.
However, a lot of their current events were booked before fuel costs soared.
"We can not change our prices for our customers because they've already signed a contract for the original price," Worm said.
Anlleyn Venegas with AAA of Southern California said the war in Ukraine continues to fuel uncertainty about the global oil supply.
"That drives oil prices up, so with that, as well as high demand as we get closer to the summer, that's a perfect storm for high prices," Venegas said.
In March, President Biden ordered the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from reserves to help lower gas prices.
But, Venegas said it might not be enough.
"We saw that it did help a little bit, but once other countries started banning Russian oil imports, that sort of made the situation worse," Venegas said.
With no relief in sight, Worm said they may have to charge more for their services to keep up with rising prices.
"We've been trying to avoid it and trying to absorb it, but if it gets much higher than it is now we probably have to add on a fuel surcharge as well," Worm said.
