News Number of the Day Gas Prices Soar, Setting Record High of $4.17 Number of the Day: The most relevant or interesting figure in personal finance By Diccon Hyatt Updated on March 10, 2022 Fact checked by Helen Reis Fact checked by Helen Reis Helen is the senior news editor for The Balance and a veteran journalist with more than 17 years of experience, mostly in business and finance news. She is passionate about making complicated topics easy for everyone to understand and compulsive about accuracy and transparency. learn about our editorial policies That’s how expensive a gallon of gas was on Tuesday, a staggering 55 cents more than a week earlier and a record high since at least 2000, according to AAA. Prices at the pump have surged along with massive spikes in the price of the crude oil it’s made from following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A U.S. ban on imports of Russian oil, announced Tuesday following days of de facto sanctions from around the world, has everyone worried about where we’ll find enough of the crucial commodity. Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer. “Americans have never seen gasoline prices this high, nor have we seen the pace of increases so fast and furious,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, a gas price analysis company, in a commentary. “It’s a dire situation and won’t improve any time soon.” Unless something drastic happens, the national average could hit $4.50 to $4.75 a gallon for gas and over $5 for diesel, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at energy data company Oil Price Information Service. “There are no easy and simple solutions to what is clearly the 2022 Energy Crisis,” he wrote in a research note.Have a question, comment, or story to share? You can reach Diccon at dhyatt@thebalance.com. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. AAA. “AAA Gas Prices.” White House. “FACT SHEET: United States Bans Imports of Russian Oil, Liquefied Natural Gas, and Coal.” Gas Buddy. “US National Average Price of Gasoline Hits New All-Time Record High.”