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Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
A day after breaking the record for the average cost of gas nationwide, prices at the pump continued to rise on Wednesday, jumping an average of 8 cents.
The national average for a regular gallon of gas is now $4.25, According to AAA. On Tuesday, the cost was $4.17, breaking the July 2008 record of $4.11, which would be about $5.25 today when adjusted for inflation.
Aside from inflation and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions pushing people out more, the Russian invasion of Ukraine remains a big factor behind the price hike. Sanctions against Russia include the country’s sale of crude oil, one of the biggest factors in determining gas prices.
(How much do you pay for gas? How does that affect you and your budget? Share your thoughts with USA TODAY in the form below or Use this form if you have photos Your local gas station prices to share for possible inclusion in future stories, photo galleries, and social media posts.)
Russian crude oil accounts for only 3% of US imports, but it has a big role because it produces “heavier and more acidic” crude oil, According to Ramanan Krishnamurti, a professor at the University of Houston. He added that Russian oil is also needed because US refineries are not designed to use only light and sweet crude oil.
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US crude oil costs $125.52 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, is $130.33 a barrel Tuesday night, According to Bloomberg. Prices are likely to go up after that President Joe Biden announces a ban on US imports of all Russian energy products Tuesday.
“Consumers can expect the current trend at the pump to continue as long as crude oil prices rise,” AAA said on Monday.
“We could see a national average of $5 a gallon” based on the situation in Ukraine, Patrick de Haan, head of petroleum analysis at fuel-saving app GasBuddy, told CNN Tuesday, days after saying it was a “fairly remote” prospect.
Other factors in the rise in aggregate gas include an increase in demand while total supply decreases.
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The price of diesel has reached an all-time high
Regular gas price records aren’t the only ones being broken.
The national average price for a gallon of diesel is now $4.88, according to AAA, breaking the record for the most expensive diesel, not adjusted for inflation. The previous high was $4.84 on July 17, 2008, which would be around $6.19 in today’s dollars.
Diesel prices saw an even more dramatic jump in cost than regular gas, with the national average gallon of diesel hitting $4.75 on Tuesday, just seven days after hitting $4.01.
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The most expensive and least expensive countries for gas
California continues to post average highs at $5.57 As of Wednesday, it remains the only state with an average of more than $5. Mono County near the Nevada border continues to have the Golden State’s most expensive gas at $6.14.
On the other side of the spectrum, Oklahoma and Kansas have been linked with the cheapest average at $3.79 a gallon.
How much gas is in my state?
As of Wednesday, only 15 states have an average price of less than $4. Here is the average gas price in each state, according to AAA data, in alphabetical order:
- Alabama: $4.04
- Alaska: $4.58
- Arizona: $4.39
- Arkansas: $3.84
- California: $5.57
- Colorado: $3.91
- Connecticut: $4.41
- Delaware: $4.25
- Florida: $4.21
- Georgia: $4.16
- Hawaii: $4.77
- Idaho: $4.17
- Illinois: $4.52
- Indiana: $4.23
- Iowa: $3.89
- KS: $3.79
- Kentucky: $4.01
- Louisiana: $4.03
- Maine: $4.25
- Maryland: $4.23
- Massachusetts: $4.30
- Michigan: $4.24
- Minnesota: $3.92
- Mississippi: $3.92
- Missouri: $3.80
- Montana: $3.95
- Nebraska: $3.87
- Nevada: $4.77
- New Hampshire: $4.23
- New Jersey: $4.32
- New Mexico: $4.11
- New York: $4.43
- North Carolina: $4.12
- North Dakota: $3.86
- Ohio: $4.07
- Oklahoma: $3.79
- Oregon: $4.66
- Pennsylvania: $4.39
- Rhode Island: $4.28
- South Carolina: $4.02
- South Dakota: $3.87
- Tennessee: $4.04
- Texas: $3.93
- Utah: $4.19
- Vermont: $4.26
- Virginia: $4.18
- Washington: $4.63
- West Virginia: $4.06
- Wisconsin: $3.99
- Wyoming: $3.92
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.
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