Gas prices went back up across Indiana Monday afternoon. Relief isn’t expected to come at the gas pump anytime soon.

“OPEC met on Monday to increase production more than they had already talked about. They already agreed back in July to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day every month until 2022. They could have increased it further beyond that. They did not even though Saudi Arabia’s own state-owned oil company suggested that demand is going to be 500,000 barrels a day more than they anticipated back then. So we’re in a supply crunch,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

DeHaan says there’s simply not enough natural gas.

“Hurricane Ida did a lot of damage in shutting down not only oil production but a lot of gas production. There are a lot of COVID imbalances not just in the U.S., but a lot of places overseas. In many of these areas, crude oil can be used as a substitute to generate electrical power. If they do that, it means more crude oil demand. We’re at a point where supply is not catching up with demand. That is pushing the price of oil higher ($79 per barrel as of Tuesday morning),” said DeHaan.

Hurricane season does not end until November 30. While it is only an estimation, DeHaan does not expect any significant relief at the gas pump for the next couple of months.

“This will be the case so long as this energy crunch persists. It doesn’t look like there will be any further increase in oil production,” said DeHaan.

Many stations across Indiana moved their prices to $3.29 per gallon for regular unleaded gas on Monday.

“I’d recommend that you fill up sooner rather than later because a lot of those low price stations will eventually go up as well given the fact that wholesale gas prices have jumped 25 cents in the last two and a half weeks,” said DeHaan.