Gas prices across the country keep shooting up with the average nationwide price a now-record $4.67 per gallon. A gallon of regular unleaded gas nationwide jumped 49 cents from a month ago with summer about to get underway, according to AAA. New Yorkers were paying on average $4.93 per gallon, with drivers who fill up in the five boroughs paying more than $5 per gallon. California drivers were paying the most in the country at $6.19 per gallon, AAA reported. One downtown Los Angeles station is even charging an eye-popping $8.059 per gallon for regular unleaded. Other states dealing with more than $5 per gallon included Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Illinois, Alaska and Hawaii. Georgia and Kansas had the lowest average per gallon at $4.16 and $4.19 respectively. Analysts forecast that more states could hit the $5 per gallon average by the Fourth of July as demand is expected to rise while supply remains tight. With prices only climbing, a gas tax holiday in New York went into effect Wednesday through the rest of this year. Lawmakers voted earlier this year to suspend 16-cents-per-gallon tax when drivers began to feel the pain at the pump. Multiple factors have contributed to the soaring gas prices, which were $3.04 per gallon on average a year ago, including a strong rebound from COVID related restrictions, disruptions in the global oil market and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden in March released a record amount of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to give drivers some relief at the pumps. Biden has placed much of the blame Russian warmonger Vladimir Putin. About 90% of Americans said gas prices were considered while they decided whether to take a trip in the next three months, a Morning Consult survey.
