Something has to give.

Gasoline prices are higher in the northeastern U.S. than most anywhere else in the country.

Why?

Demand, apparently.

But also problems with gasoline refining and distribution infrastructure.

A fire at a large refinery at Toledo, Ohio, in September caused a jump in prices because supply was cut to that area and neighboring states. (Sadly, that fire killed two people.)

And people are not conserving their gasoline consumption as life gets back to “normal” after the pandemic.

Of course, because gasoline prices are tied to the global oil market, the OPEC-announced cuts to oil production have caused prices to rise.

While the national average price of gasoline has come down, the Northeast is bucking the trend because of tight supply, industry analysts say.

Prices in our region are still hovering just below $4 per gallon and have been that way for weeks now.

There are areas near, for example, Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pa., where prices are around $3.30.

That’s no solace to Central Pennsylvania.

The Uni-Mart in Pleasant Gap was about $3.79 as of a check yesterday.

State College had about the same.

Montoursville had a station at $3.69; same for Williamsport.

If you didn’t know, Pennsylvania has the highest wholesale gasoline tax rate at $0.58 cents per gallon.

It certainly is a supply vs. demand story when it comes to prices, folks.

Politics affect the price as well but there’s no excuse when oil companies are raking in record profits for their stockholders.

In the most recent quarter, ExxonMobil pulled in nearly $20 billion in profit. Chevron took in more than $11 billion, Shell $9.5 billion, BP over $8 billion.

The world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, reported making $42 billion last quarter.

We hope our elected officials are reading this.

Regular folks are having to make sacrifices at a time when our economy needs them most — the holidays.

And let’s not forget heating oil. What’s that at now? About $5 per gallon (give or take), or $750 for 150 gallons.

As we said, something has to give.