US gas prices hit a record high on Monday, at $4.865, according to AAA. Now, 10 states are paying at or above $5 a gallon for gas, up from seven states last week. One gas station in California is charging $9.60 per gallon. Loading Something is loading.
The national average for gas prices in the US hit a record $4.865 Monday, and one Northern California station showed a sticker price near $10.
The average gallon of gas today is up 59% compared to one year ago, according to AAA data.
Prices at the pump have hit record after record in recent weeks, and now there are 10 states — including Connecticut, New York, California, among others — paying more than $5 per gallon on average.
One week ago, there were seven states at that mark.
The numbers are consistent with weekly data from the US Energy Information Administration, which showed the US average at $4.62 per gallon for the week ending May 30.
Notably, a gas station in Mendocino, California is charging $9.60 for a gallon of gas, and the average price across the state surpassed $6 for the first time ever last weekend. Similarly, another station in Los Angeles just topped $8.
Crude prices have jumped since the European Union announced last Tuesday a partial ban on Russian crude, all while China is showing signs of easing its COVID lockdowns.
Meanwhile, summer driving season is officially underway as of Memorial Day, and JPMorgan previously predicted that a gallon of gas could rise above $6.
There’s little sign of relief ahead, and there are few maneuvers that the Biden Administration would be able to make to lower prices at the pump, according to Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler.
“There are very few tools the US administration has because the biggest drivers for gasoline prices are driven by global fundamentals,” Smith told Insider. “You can make decisions on domestic supply, but if it doesn’t have an impact on the global picture, it won’t have an impact at the pump.”
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