NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. - Gas prices in Georgia-Carolina have hit record levels at more than $5 a gallon in some places.

Greg's Gas Plus in North Augusta is selling its gas for $4.99. It's high, but it doesn’t seem so when compared to reports of stations charging more than $6 for gas.

The Aiken County Sheriff's Office says it has received about a dozen calls from people accusing gas stations of unreasonably marking up their prices because of the low supply and high demand for of gas in the CSRA.

High prices are something we've all been dealing with, but since Hurricane Ike shut down nearly all oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, prices have gone up more than a dollar a gallon in the Augusta Area.

Many believe it’s the work of price gougers.

Lt. Michael Frank of the Aiken County Sheriff's Office defines price gouging as one or more dollars above other gas stations’ selling price.

So even though drivers may be paying more than $5 in some places, Lt. Frank says it's most likely not price gouging.

Spokesperson for Greg’s Gas Plus, Steve Johnston, says many stations can’t help the high prices.

"Still, the consumer sees the gas at $3.39 or $3.49 or whatever and now all of sudden it's way up, and to them, that's price gouging," says Johnston.

Johnston says ripping off their customers is the last thing they want to do.

"It's out of the local people's hands and even the national chains hands because they're all at the mercy of how much gas is out there and how much they're going to be charged to pay for it by the distributor."

If gas stations don't want to end up running on empty like many in our area, they'll have to keep charging the consumer more because it's costing them more.

As high as prices have been, drivers should start to see costs sink back to previous levels over the next week.