It is going to be a long year for motorists, as gas prices set a fresh record at the pump on Tuesday, rising above the previous all-time high of $4.35 per gallon set on March 10, according to GasBuddy, the leading fuel savings platform providing North American drivers the most ways to save money on gas. The national average price of gas is now $4.36 per gallon, and could continue to climb through Memorial Day as summer road trip season begins and oil prices remain volatile. In addition, the soaring price of diesel also set a new all-time record of $5.53 per gallon on Tuesday.
Fuel prices in the U.S. decreased slightly after spiking in March, as the situation between Russia and Ukraine continued, but simmered. Prices began to rise again over the last few weeks as the odds of the European Union sanctioning Russian oil increased. Just in the last seven days, the national average rose over 15¢ per gallon, bringing it to today’s record price.
Diesel prices have also continued to surge in recent weeks, not only setting a new record for the
difference to gasoline, but outright highs.
“Liquid fuels have turned into liquid gold, with prices for gasoline and diesel spiraling out of
control with little power to harness them as the imbalance between supply and demand globally
continues to widen with each passing day. Russia’s oil increasingly remains out of the market,
crimping supply while demand rebounds ahead of the summer driving season,” said Patrick De
Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “There’s little, if any, good news about fuel
prices heading into summer, and the problem could become worse should we see an above
average hurricane season, which could knock out refinery capacity at a time we badly need it as
refined product inventories continue to plummet.”
GasBuddy’s Summer Travel survey will be released in the weeks ahead, providing motorists
with an outlook on summer gas prices and travel trends.