National average gas prices hit record high: analysis

National average gas prices have reached an all-time high of just over $4.10 a gallon, according to data from the gas price analysis platform GasBuddy.

The national average on Monday reached $4.104 a gallon, surpassing the 2008 record of $4.103.

Saturday saw the first occasion since 2008 that the national average exceeded $4 a gallon.

The increase on Friday fell short of the single-day record increase of 18 cents, but the national average has also set a new record for the biggest increase in a seven-day period. The previous record, set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was 49 cents.

“Americans have never seen gasoline prices this high, nor have we seen the pace of increases so fast and furious. That combination makes this situation all the more remarkable and intense, with crippling sanctions on Russia curbing their flow of oil, leading to the massive spike in the price of all fuels: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and more,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a statement.

“It’s a dire situation and won’t improve any time soon. The high prices are likely to stick around for not days or weeks, like they did in 2008, but months. GasBuddy now expects the yearly national average to rise to its highest ever recorded,” he added.

The AAA national average gas price monitor, however, showed the average slightly below the record Monday, at $4.065 per gallon. The day before, AAA recorded a 10-year high of $4.009, the highest since 2008.

Gas prices were already on the rise before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, due in large part to an increase in demand as COVID-19-related restrictions lifted. Since the invasion began in February, prices have continued to surge.

The International Energy Agency announced last week that the U.S. and other member countries would release 60 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum reserves. This included 30 million from the U.S., a lesser amount than that released in late 2021 to combat gas price increases.