Gas prices have steadily climbed higher this year, and Americans are now paying the most at the pump in seven years.
The national average price for a gallon of gas was $3.22 on Wednesday, according to AAA, which is the highest since at least October 2014, although in some places, consumers are paying much more.
In California, the average price is more than a dollar higher at $4.42. In the state’s Mono County, prices have topped $5.
Rising gas prices comes on the heels of an oil rebound. West Texas Intermediate crude features traded around $77.60 per barrel Wednesday, after hitting $79 in the prior session for the first time since November 2014.
Demand for petroleum products plummeted in 2020 as the pandemic shut economies worldwide, prompting a halt to production. Though demand has recovered as people hit the road and business activity picks up, supply has remained constrained. Producers have been slow to return barrels to the market, and Hurricane Ida exacerbated the supply and demand imbalance when it knocked production in the Gulf of Mexico offline.
