The Last Year Has Added $17 to Each Gasoline Fill-Up

That’s about how much more it costs to fill up the average gas tank because pump prices have risen so much over the past year.

The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline continues to run up, rising a nickel over the last week to $3.32—the highest level since 2014, AAA said Monday. That means the average 15-gallon tank costs $49.80 to fill up, up from $32.40 a year ago, when pump prices were $1.16 a gallon less. 

The price of gas has jumped in line with the increasing price of oil, which has climbed above $80 per barrel to its highest level since 2014. Crude oil prices account for about half the cost of each gallon of gas.

Consumers are unlikely to find relief at the pump anytime soon, as oil prices are forecast to continue escalating due to dwindling supplies. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated last week that U.S. crude oil inventories ended September at 420.9 million barrels, the lowest level since September 2018.

“Until several bottlenecks ease, including supply chains and low global inventories of oil, natural gas and coal, we’ll be stuck feeling the pinch of rising oil and gasoline prices.” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, in a commentary. “The bad news is that for now, all I see is the upward trend at the pump continuing into the weeks ahead with no sign of relief just yet.”

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