Gas prices are up once again, and they’re taking bigger and bigger leaps toward record levels. If you were hoping for some relief at the pump soon, we’ve got bad news.
The national average has gone up by a quarter per gallon again in the last week, and we’re about to hit what is typically a sharp price hike in a normal year: the Memorial Day long-weekend holiday in America.
Hot Summer, Hotter Prices
A look at gas price data from AAA shows that the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is now $4.520 per gallon. That’s nearly 50 cents up from a month ago, 25 cents from just a week ago, and $1.38 more than the cost last year. Diesel remains even higher, too, though it may have hit a plateau in some areas. It’s still frighteningly close to reaching a record high, less than 20 cents at this point. Gasoline still has around 50 cents to go to break the 2022 high-water mark. But they did just half that amount in a week, so yeah.
The high prices are starting to show up in the demand for gasoline. The Energy Information Administration’s latest report says that demand dropped from 9.1 million barrels of gas per day to 8.81. But production has also fallen, averaging 9.6 million barrels per day. Yes, that’s more production than demand, but the US exports gasoline as well. Especially in the current market.
California, Washington, Hawaii, and Oregon pay the most for gas, with California’s average now at $6.15 per gallon for standard grade. Previous gas price data we looked at shows five states were paying more than $5 per gallon. That figure is now six states, with Illinois just three cents away.
As for diesel, two states–California and Hawaii–are now averaging more than $7 per gallon. Two weeks ago, half the country was above $5 per gallon; now every state except Oklahoma has crested that diesel benchmark. And with Oklahoma sitting at $4.998, it’s not going to stay under for long.
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This article originally appeared on CarBuzz and is republished here with permission.
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