There are times where seeing the record books get rewritten is pure excitement: Sporting events, awards tallies, hot dog-eating competitions.
But historic gas prices? Not so jovial.
Yet that’s where the United States finds itself in the wake of a price hike reportedly born of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tuesday’s average national price climbed to $4.17 per gallon, according to AAA, toppling a high watermark (or high gasmark?) that had sat untouched for almost 14 years.
The new price is six cents per gallon higher than the previous benchmark of $4.11 set in July 2008, though adjusted for inflation, that $4.11 is more like $5.25.
On Wednesday, the national average for a regular gallon of gas rose to $4.25, according to AAA.
Projections from the fuel-guru app GasBuddy suggest consumers nationwide should expect to pay, on average, over $4 per gallon for the next eight months, which of course would run through the summer travel season.
“Americans have never seen gasoline prices this high, nor have we seen the pace of increases so fast and furious. That combination makes this situation all the more remarkable and intense, with crippling sanctions on Russia curbing their flow of oil, leading to the massive spike in the price of all fuels: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and more,” said GasBuddy head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan via a statement on Monday.
De Haan also tweeted though that he doesn’t expect the national average to top $5 per gallon.
July 2008 also saw a record price for diesel - $4.84 per gallon. The current price of diesel is approaching record levels as well, hovering at $4.75 at the moment, having nearly doubled in the past five months.
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