Gas prices averaging over $4 in CT

Cromwell, Conn. (WTNH) -- Have you been to the pump lately? To put it mildly...ouch!

"They have us over a barrel and they know it," said Bethlem's Suzanne Yannielli while filling up at a Mobil Station.

According to Gasbuddy.com , the average price of gasoline in Connecticut is now at $4.03. AAA has that figure at $4.05. Either way you look at it, filling up the tank isn't cheap, but Gene Guilford, who is with the Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association is about to reveal two pieces of information that may surprise you.

The first factoid hasn't happened since World War II. The second gas tidbit hasn't occurred since Harry Truman was president.

"Over the last four years, Americans have used less gasoline," Guilford said. "Gasoline consumption actually declined 2.5 percent last year alone. And, for the first time in 62 years, America has become a net exporter of petroleum products."

So why are prices rising? It's not supply and demand. The answer, you may have guessed, is as clear as a bell, as in Wall Street bell.

"Even to the extent that last week, there was a news story that, while the Department of Energy has told what I just told you (consumption down), Wall Street said, 'I don't believe it. We don't believe consumption is really going down.'"

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was designed to control inflated prices. Guilford says lawsuits are slowing down any benefit that would reach the consumer.

Meaning that ouch you feel right now isn't going away anytime soon.

"We've got to get the speculation out of these markets because it's hurting the American economy," Guilford said.