Gasoline Prices Heading For $5, ‘Not If, But When,’ Says GasBuddy

Gasoline prices are posted at a gas station in Washington on May 26, 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

America’s average gas prices have risen for the seventh straight week, and are heading towards $5 per gallon, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

The national average gas price was at $4.85 per gallon according to GasBuddy data compiled from over 11 million individual price reports covering more than 15,000 gas stations. This is 56 cents up from a month back and $1.81 per gallon higher than a year ago.

“After a blistering week of gas prices jumping in nearly every town, city, state, and area possible, more bad news is on the horizon. It now appears not if, but when, we’ll hit that psychologically critical $5 national average,” De Haan said in a June 6 statement on Revue.

Gasoline inventories have declined even as demand softens due to high prices. In nine U.S. states, average gas prices are already above $5 per gallon. In the coming days and weeks, more states are going to see gas prices exceed $5 per gallon, according to De Haan.

The most common gas price motorists encountered was $4.49 per gallon, up 20 cents from the previous week. It was followed by $4.59, $4.99, $4.79, and $4.39 per gallon in the top five spots. The median price is $4.64 per gallon, which is 21 cents lower than the national average.

Highest gas prices were registered in California with $6.32 per gallon, Nevada with $5.46, and Hawaii with $5.45.

Georgia had the lowest price at $4.27 per gallon, followed by Arkansas with $4.39 and Oklahoma with $4.41.

At the top 10 percent of gas stations, prices averaged $4.98 per gallon. At the bottom 10 percent, prices averaged $4.01 per gallon.

Since Joe Biden became the president of the United States, gas prices have more than doubled. On Jan. 20, 2021, the average gas price nationwide was around $2.39 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). On June 6, gas cost $4.865.

The Biden administration has criticized U.S. oil companies for not pumping out enough oil to maintain supply balance. Biden has also threatened to slap additional taxes on oil companies with federal leases that do not produce enough oil.

However, the White House is also under criticism from many quarters for its lax policies on securing America’s energy needs.

The Department of Interior recently announced Biden’s plan to cancel three oil and gas leases, claiming that there is a lack of interest in drilling. As a consequence, millions of acres of U.S. property are now ineligible for offshore drilling for oil and gas.

“Unfortunately, this is becoming a pattern—the administration talks about the need for more supply and acts to restrict it,” Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of the American Petroleum Institute, said in an interview with The New York Post.

“As geopolitical volatility and global energy prices continue to rise, we again urge the administration to end the uncertainty and immediately act on a new five-year program for federal offshore leasing.”