Southern Californians are feeling the pain at the pumps with the region continuing to see record-breaking gas prices.
The average price per gallon of regular gasoline climbed to a record $5.34 statewide, up from $5.28 just a day ago, according to AAA.
For comparison, the average price per gallon in California was $3.74 one year ago.
In the Los Angeles-Long Beach area, the per-gallon price on Monday soared to $5.42 — the highest recorded average price.
Records were also set throughout the region Monday, including $5.42 per gallon in Orange County, $5.30 in Riverside, $5.33 in San Bernardino, $5.34 in Ventura, and $5.38 in San Diego.
“This has been something we’ve been seeing every single day,” Doug Shupe of the Auto Club of Southern California told KTLA.
There are several factors contributing to the soaring prices.
“One is the upward pressure on the crude oil prices as a result of the situation between Russia and Ukraine, but we’re also seeing higher demand for gasoline right now as it warms up in many parts of the country,” he said. “We also have the summer blend fuel already in the marketplace here in Southern California that’s more expensive to produce.”
It’s not just California.
The national average price of gasoline surpassed $4 per gallon for the first time since 2008 over the weekend.
“This is a milestone that was hard to imagine happening so quickly, but with bipartisan support of severe sanctions on Russia, is not exactly surprising – it is the cost of choking off Russia from energy revenue,” said Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy. “As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues to evolve and we head into a season where gas prices typically increase, Americans should prepare to pay more for gas than they ever have before.”
GasBuddy expects gas prices to continue climbing in the days ahead, with the U.S. potentially seeing prices upward of $4.25 per gallon by Memorial Day.
The national average price per gallon stood at $4.06 Monday.
While President Joe Biden has not moved to ban the import of Russian oil or place energy sanctions on the country, Shupe said that oil prices are spiking due to concerns about Russian oil supply being removed from Western markets.
California doesn’t actually import any oil from Russia, but Russia is a major exporter and if its oil is removed from the market, it would shrink global supplies and that would have an effect on prices in California and across the globe.
That’s on top of Southern California experiencing some supply issues that tend to happen during the spring, when refineries typically undergo maintenance, Shupe said.
The Automobile Club advised Californians to save money on gas by making sure their tires are properly maintained, avoiding “jackrabbit” starts and hard accelerations, slowing down and driving at the speed limit, using cruise control on highways, minimizing the use of air conditioning, removing unnecessary bulky items from their cars and avoiding extended idling to warm up the engine.