Millions of Americans hit the road over Memorial Day weekend, with record-high gas prices pinching their wallets.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas hit $4.67 as of Wednesday, according to AAA, $1.63 higher than a year earlier and about 14% above the pre-2022 high of $4.11 set in 2008. Prices have risen about 12% over the past month, the organization’s figures indicated, and was recently above $4 in all 50 states.
U.S gas prices hit fresh nominal records on Tuesday as the average gallon hit $4.622, up roughly 52% from a year ago, AAA data shows.
In addition, more states are seeing gas prices surge past $5 per gallon. Illinois has joined California, Oregon, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington with prices above that mark.
And Arizona plus 10 states in the Northeast, including New York and Connecticut, are within a few cents of $5 per gallon, AAA data shows.
Texas, in particular, is expected to see demand for natural gas soar to a historical record this week–even before the hottest part of summer sets in.
Also driving natural gas futures upward is rising demand, declining production, and soaring exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. Gulf coast, diverting domestic supplies.
In its 2022 outlook released in late May, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) projected that U.S. demand for natural gas would outpace supply this summer. As reported by NGI, FERC sees U.S. dry natural gas production increase by 3.4% over the summer months, compared to a projected 4.8% increase in consumption during that same period.
Despite the eye-popping numbers being put on gas station signs, the EIA says that as a percentage of disposable personal income, gasoline costs are still only a little higher than the average since 2015 — and it says they’re lower than in previous times when oil prices soared past $100 per barrel.
“The share of disposable personal income allocated to gasoline expenditures reached its peak in 2008, just before the onset of the global financial crisis when oil prices were at record highs,” the agency said in its recent short-term outlook.