It’s a small world, after all.

A possible war in Iraq and worker strikes in Venezuela have pushed gasoline prices in the Chicago area to their highest February rates since the 1970s.

Prices have increased by almost 20 cents per gallon in the past month. A gallon of regular unleaded gas currently averages $1.70 in Cook County, according to AAA of Chicago. Gas cost about $1.80 at many Evanston pumping stations on Tuesday, with prices just shy of $2 per gallon at the Shell station at 1201 Chicago Ave.

The rising costs are taking their toll on Northwestern students who have cars.

Weinberg sophomore Nate Asher, who commutes to an internship in Chicago during the week, said the higher prices have impacted how much gas he can buy — and how far he can travel.

“I haven’t been filling up my tank for the past couple weeks because I don’t have the money,” Asher said. “I don’t fill my tank up all the way. If I have five dollars, I put five dollars in. It’s kind of a scramble.”

Waqas Qureshi, an employee at the Green Bay Car Wash, a Mobil pumping station at 1950 Green Bay Road, said gas prices have slowly risen by 20 to 25 cents since January.

“That’s not at all normal,” said Qureshi, who has worked at the station for four years. “(Prices) usually go up three to five cents in three to four weeks.”

The price spikes are unusual because they are occurring in the middle of winter, said Lynne Kiesling, a senior lecturer in NU’s economics department.

“This usually happens in the spring or summer, when you’re in a season of high demand,” Kiesling said. “This never happens in February, unless Venezuela is having a strike and we are about to go to war with Iraq.”

Venezuelan oil workers staged massive strikes over the past 80 days in an effort to force President Hugo Chavez from office. Workers in other industries joined in a general strike, but most of them have since returned to work.

The work stoppage dramatically impacted the cost of gasoline because Venezuela is a major supplier of oil to the United States, according to Kiesling.

“They are the strongest OPEC member that’s not in the Middle East,” she said. “They are the fifth largest oil-producing nation in the world.”

The Midwest relies on Venezuela for its oil more than the rest of the U.S., Kiesling said. Before the strikes, gas prices were already high due to what she called a “war premium,” the increased cost that comes with expectations of war.

Sunny Danieo, who works at the Citgo station at 1925 Green Bay Road, estimated that increased prices caused business to drop by nearly 30 percent.

But Qureshi said he has not noticed a decline in business at the Mobil station.

“People have to drive,” Qureshi said. “They have no choice at all — I mean, they have to drive the car.”

Education junior Diana Schofield said she has not changed her driving habits despite the $20 to $30 it takes to fill up her SUV’s gas tank.

“My parents told me that getting the car I want was more important than gas consumption,” Schofield said. “I actually don’t pay for my own gas, so I’m the lucky one.”