AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Prices at the pump are on the way back up across the Austin area, according to the latest edition of AAA Texas' Weekend Gas Watch.
Austin-area drivers are paying an average of $4.32 for a gallon of regular unleaded. That's up five cents since last week, and the highest prices have been since cracking the $4.30 mark on May 21. The average is up $1.66 since last year, when drivers were paying $2.66 a gallon on average.
Statewide, drivers are paying $4.34 a gallon on average. That's up eight cents from last week and $1.63 more than a year ago. The nationwide average is up 11 cents on the week to $4.71 a gallon. Both averages are new record highs.
Across the state, drivers in El Paso are paying the most on average at $4.54 per gallon, while drivers in Lubbock are paying the least at $4.16 per gallon.
Analysts say the spike in pump prices is primarily driven by the oil market watching the possibility that supplies may become tighter as COVID lockdowns ease in China and the European Union will phase in a ban of most Russian oil products.
Keeping a cap on oil prices from skyrocketing further are reports that Saudi Arabia said it is prepared to increase oil production to make up for the loss of Russian oil in the market.
"New retail gas price records continue to be set across the state as crude oil prices remain elevated due to tight supplies around the globe," said AAA Texas spokesman Daniel Armbruster. "Prices will likely continue to fluctuate with relief likely not coming until after the busy summer travel season concludes."
Texas ranks ninth across the country for the lowest gas price average, returning to the top ten for the first time since early May. Georgia has the nation's lowest average at $4.19 a gallon; California continues to see the nation's highest average at $6.21 a gallon, followed by Hawaii and Nevada.
