The price of gasoline has risen across the United States again as experts warn that more pain could lie ahead at the pumps for Americans.
The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline currently stands at $3.488, an increase of more than 30 percent since the same time last year, when it was $2.505 a gallon, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA).
In the last week, the price of regular-grade gasoline has soared nearly 1.4 percent, from $3.441.
According to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.6 million barrels to 248.4 million last week.
Meanwhile, demand for gasoline increased from 8.23 million barrels per day to 9.13 million barrels per day, resulting in a disparity between demand and supply.
The rising cost of crude oil, driven by loosening COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions and economies rebounding from the recession, is also putting continued pressure on prices.
And Americans are set to pay even more at the pumps in the future, AAA warned on Feb.10.
“Pump prices will likely continue to follow suit as demand grows and stocks decrease if crude prices continue to climb,” AAA said.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased by 22 cents to settle at $89.88 at the close of the Feb. 10 formal trading session.
“WTI $94, national average gas price will eclipse $3.50/gal this week,” Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy, warned on Feb. 14.
Additionally, EIA reported that total domestic crude stocks decreased by 4.8 million barrels on Feb. 4 to 410.4 million.
“The current stock level is approximately 13 percent lower than at the beginning of February 2021, contributing to pressure on domestic crude prices,” AAA noted.
Since Feb. 3, the states of Delaware, New Mexico, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, New Jersey, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky have seen the highest increases in the price of gasoline.
