Americans continued to endure pain at the gas pump this week, but at least prices didn’t get any higher. Meanwhile, the White House promised action that it said could lower prices.
AAA’s daily fuel price survey shows that the national average price of regular gas is $4.21 a gallon, three cents less than last week. It’s down from its record high of $4.33 a gallon over the last three weeks.
The average price of premium gas $4.88 a gallon, two cents less than last Friday. The average price of diesel fuel is still climbing, with the average price coming in five cents higher than a week ago at $5.11 a gallon.
In a statement Thursday, the White House said President Biden would begin releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help make up the shortfall from the loss of Russian oil. The plan calls for selling 1 million barrels a day for the next six months.
“The scale of this release is unprecedented: the world has never had a release of oil reserves at this 1 million per day rate for this length of time,” the White House said in a statement. “This record release will provide a historic amount of supply to serve as a bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up.”
Russia produced about 10 million barrels of oil a day last year, most of which was sold in Europe. The war in Ukraine has resulted in disruptions in supply, as well as some reductions caused by sanctions.
Even though U.S. gas prices remain high, some of the volatility subsided this week. However, the statewide average price jumped 11 cents a gallon in Hawaii and rose six cents a gallon in Nevada.
States with the most expensive gas
These states currently have the highest prices for regular gas, according to AAA:
California ($5.89)
Hawaii ($5.19)
Nevada ($5.23)
Alaska ($4.73)
Washington ($4.72)
Oregon ($4.70)
Arizona ($4.68)
Illinois ($4.46)
Idaho ($4.42)
New York ($4.33)
States with the cheapest gas
AAA reports that these states currently have the lowest prices for regular gas:
Missouri ($3.77)
Kansas ($3.79)
Arkansas ($3.80)
Oklahoma ($3.80)
Maryland ($3.81)
Nebraska ($3.86)
Iowa ($3.89)
South Carolina ($3.90)
Minnesota ($3.91)
Mississippi ($3.89)