Q: Since I-85 went down, gas in Peachtree City went up 20 cents within a week. Was there a reason besides the I-85 collapse?
—Bill Stipta, Senoia
A: While motorists may try to tie current events in a local area to gas price fluctuations, rarely are these assumptions correct, due to the global nature of oil and gasoline markets that are affected by much larger events only, Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, told Q&A on the News via email.
“In this case, prices rising has nothing to do with a shutdown of an interstate and everything to do with seasonal factors and rising oil prices,” he wrote.
Over the last few weeks, oil prices have risen $5 per barrel (nearly 13 percent) on the concern that inventories of crude oil are tightening, DeHaan said.
“In addition, the transition to more expensive summer gasoline is taking hold,” he wrote. “These two factors are responsible for the bulk of the increase, and more increases at retail pumps are likely until Memorial Day or so, when things usually cool off.”
Q: It has been revealed that 6th Congressional District candidate Jon Ossoff does not live in the district. Is it true that a candidate does not have to live in the district they wish to represent? Are they required or expected to move into the district should they win?
—Leon E. Collins, Stone Mountain
A: Candidates are not required by law to live in the district. If Ossoff wins, he has said he will move to the district, the AJC previously reported.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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