Thanks to rising demand and an uptick in global oil prices following last week’s OPEC+ announcement to cut oil production, gas prices in the United States are creeping up again after declining for much of the summer. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the national average price of one gallon of regular (all formulations) climbed to $3.91 on October 10, up from $3.65 three weeks earlier.
Before the summer respite, gas prices had surged by more than 50 percent since the beginning of the year, with the national average peaking above $5 in June. Millions of Americans who rely on their car to get to work and around were left with unprecedented pain at the pump until prices started coming down in the middle of June, just in time for the summer holiday season. On August 11, the national average dropped back below $4 for the first time since March, according to data compiled by AAA.
The previous record, dating back to July 2008, was first surpassed on March 14 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After the initial shock, prices briefly cooled, but as embargoes of Russian oil were put in place in the U.S. and later in the EU, prices started climbing again. The U.S. leadership, like the governments of other countries that are embargoing Russian energy, have been looking for alternative sources of fuel, but significant amount of surplus shipments have been hard to come by.
This chart shows the average weekly price of gasoline in the U.S.
