If you filled up your tank this weekend, chances are you did a DOUBLE-TAKE at the gas pump. Or, maybe it was a SPIT-TAKE if you were enjoying some gourmet gas station coffee at the time.
According to Triple-A, the national average gas price yesterday was $4.44 a gallon for regular. That’s up more than 30 cents from last week, and up about $1.30 from last year at this time. It’s also an all-time record price for May.
Will we set a new record? It’s hard to say, but prices are climbing fast.
The highest average price ever was set in June of 2022, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Back then, the price hit $5.01 a gallon in the U.S. This time around, the price is soaring due to the Iran war.
On Friday, President Trump acknowledged that everyday Americans are really feeling it in their wallets, at least for gas. He said, “Gasoline is high. Other prices are way down, but gasoline’s high.”
And Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy promised, “immediate relief” once the war is over. But it’s unclear when that will be.
Even though the average is $4.44, some states have higher or lower prices than others. Prices are over $6 in California, over $5 in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii, and nearing $5 in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois.
On the flipside, prices are still below $4 in most of the southcentral U.S., Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.
So is this a big deal? For a lot of people, YES, even if prices come back down.
44% of Americans say they’re driving less due to high gas prices, 42% say they’ve slashed household expenses, and 34% say they have changed travel or vacation plans.
Unfortunately, a petroleum analyst for GasBuddy says it’ll probably get worse before it gets better. He told the “New York Post”, “We’re entering what could become a much larger energy crisis in the weeks ahead.”
(AAA / USA Today / Independent / ABC News)
