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Russia's invasion of Ukraine sharply increases gas and oil prices

The national average gas price increased 10 cents a gallon in one day

Gas prices concept
Photo (c) bizoo n - Getty Images
The price of gasoline, which had slowly moved higher since the start of the year, shifted into overdrive this week as Russian forces fought to take over Ukraine. In the U.S., nearly every state experienced a double-digit increase in gas prices.

AAA’s daily fuel price survey shows that the national average price of regular gas is $2.83 a gallon, an increase of 26 cents a gallon in the last seven days and a 10-cent increase since Thursday.

The average price of premium gas is $4.38 a gallon, 20 cents more than last week. The average price of diesel fuel is $4.26 a gallon, 29 cents a gallon higher than a week ago.

Gasoline prices are surging because the price of oil has risen sharply in the wake of Russia’s invasion. It’s expected that Western sanctions against Moscow will reduce the amount of Russian oil sold on world markets.

On Twitter, GasBuddy’s Patrick DeHaan reported that the average price of gas had broken $5 a gallon in San Francisco. Within hours of DeHaan’s post, the average price of regular rose past $5 a gallon for the entire state of California.

DeHaan said GasBuddy had raised its “forecast for the yearly national average to $3.99 gallon from $3.41, with the average household to spend $2,745 on gasoline, up from $1,977 in 2021.”

AAA reports that another driver of retail gasoline prices is rising demand from U.S. motorists, which is occurring while fuel supplies are declining.

States with the most expensive gas

These states currently have the highest prices for regular gas, according to AAA:

  • California ($5.07)   

  • Hawaii ($4.66)      

  • Oregon ($4.29) 

  • Nevada ($4.28) 

  • Washington ($4.22)       

  • Alaska ($4.18)   

  • Illinois ($4.10) 

  • New York ($4.05) 

  • Arizona ($3.90)      

  • Pennsylvania ($3.88)   

States with the cheapest gas

AAA reports that these states currently have the lowest prices for regular gas:

  • Arkansas ($3.44) 

  • Oklahoma ($3.45)

  • Missouri ($3.48)
  • Texas ($3.49)
  • Mississippi ($3.51)

  •  Kansas ($3.53)

  • Wisconsin ($3.54) 

  • Wyoming ($3.57)      

  • North Dakota ($3.58)

  • South Dakota ($3.59)   

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