The average price of regular gas in the Bremerton metro area reached $5.201 per gallon, slightly higher than the average price in Washington state, which was $5.196 per gallon on Friday, according to AAA.
The highest gas price in Kitsap County on Friday appeared in Port Orchard, where Shell on Mullenix Road got up to $5.44 per gallon. Some gas stations in North Kitsap, South Kitsap, Central Kitsap and Bainbridge Island have seen gas prices of over $5 per gallon, according to Kitsap Sun’s gas prices database citing data from GasBuddy.
The new nationwide average now at just under $4.60 per gallon, the highest ever recorded by the American Automobile Association (AAA)’s gas price tracker.
The median gas price is above $4 in all 50 states. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said it’s likely to remain there ‘through this year’ during an interview with a local Fox affiliate.
Gas prices have jumped twofold since the start of the year; that could increase another 25 percent if the summer turns out hotter than normal, CNBC reported last week. The report cited a senior analyst from S&P Global Community Insights who noted that natural gas production was not rising fast enough to meet growing demand, which was bound to push prices even higher.
Currently, Washington has the fifth-highest cost of gas-per-gallon among all 50 states.
An article by the Seattle Times states that Russia’s violent war waged against Ukraine has created significant volatility in the energy markets. Russia supplies 10% of the world’s oil and over one-third the European Union’s natural gas supply comes from Russia.
According to petroleum analysts who spoke to USA Today, even though the all-time record is expected to be broken this week nationwide, Gasbuddy’s 2022 gasoline forecast predicts the average cost of a gallon of gas will peak in May at $4.25. Even as prices begin to decline after May, the average is expected to remain over $4 until November.
While grappling with the rising cost the White House is also preparing for turbulence in the cost of diesel fuel – which hit its own record high last week.
The administration is weighing an emergency declaration to release diesel from a rarely used stockpile in a bid to address a major supply crunch and blunt rising prices, an administration official said.
Fuel costs had already been rising as the economy rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic, but skyrocketed when Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine threw the global energy supply chain into chaos earlier this ear.
The president’s strategy to combat the increase, which he’s dubbed ‘Putin’s price hike,’ has largely involved stressing the need for a faster transition to green energy.