LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Paying at the pump these days is painful for drivers as gas prices continue to rise nationwide.

Some Louisville gas stations are sitting at just shy of $5 a gallon, and some experts fear these prices are only going to get worse, leading to a very pricey summer.

Patrick De Haan, with GasBuddy, said the latest price hike comes down to two big reasons.

"The EU yesterday announcing that they're going to sanction Russian oil that drove the price of oil up, and refineries have been unable to keep up with high demand," De Haan said.

De Haan said nationwide about 5% of refining capacity has been lost over the last three years.

"With summer driving season here, inventories of gasoline and diesel had been on the decline," he said. "So all of this is really pushing prices up. And I don't think it's going to stop here."

WDRB News continues to hear from viewers that gas stations across Kentuckiana have run out of fuel at times, which De Haan suspects is connected to the high demand, not a shortage of fuel.

"It's probably just people filling up at a faster clip than gas stations can get those truck drivers to their station," he said. "Keep in mind, there's still an ongoing trucker shortage, so that may impact the ability of stations to fill up as quickly as their fuel tanks are declining."

It's a global issue, but De Haan suspects demand will continue to outpace supply in the U.S.

"Until Americans start slowing down their consumption, we're not going to see any break of the pump, and there's no signs that that's going to happen, especially with summer ahead of us," he said. "So my fear is that we will hit $5 a gallon and will continue going up until Americans start slowing down."

In a Tweet Wednesday afternoon, De Haan said gas prices in Louisville are higher than the rest of Kentucky because the city opted in for reformulated gasoline requirements, meaning it costs about 45 cents more.

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