Oil surges above $90, causing gas prices to reach their highest level in over 7 years.

Oil surges above $90, causing gas prices to reach their highest level in over 7 years.
Oil surges above $90, causing gas prices to reach their highest level in over 7 years.
  • On Friday, the price of a gallon of gas reached its highest point in over seven years.
  • Since 2014, the price of U.S. oil has surpassed $90 per barrel.
  • President Joe Biden stated on Friday that although they are striving to decrease gas prices at the pump, they are currently up.
Traffic passes a downtown Los Angeles gas station where a gallon of gas costs over six dollars on December 10, 2021. - Data released on December 10 showed an average rise of 6.8 percent in the price of gas across the United States over last year's prices,
A gas station in Los Angeles on Dec. 10, 2021. (FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty Images)

On Friday, gas prices reached their highest point in over seven years, following the U.S. oil benchmark surpassing $90 per barrel for the first time since 2014.

On Friday, the national average for a gallon of gas was $3.423, according to AAA, which was slightly higher than the previous record of $3.422 set on Nov. 8.

Since September 10, 2014, consumers have been paying the highest price at the pump on a Friday, according to AAA data. The national average was $2.44 a year ago.

Inflationary fears are intensifying due to the rapid increase in prices, which is causing problems for the Biden administration.

President Joe Biden stated on Friday that gas prices at the pump have increased, although efforts are being made to decrease them, but they remain high.

In November, the White House announced a plan to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in collaboration with other countries to alleviate the burden of high gas prices on consumers. However, Biden did not provide specific details on how the administration is addressing the issue.

The decline in oil prices at the end of November and in December was mainly due to concerns about the impact of the Covid omicron variant on demand.

The SPR release did not have as much impact as initially feared, and since then, oil prices have been moving higher. WTI is now more than $10 above its November level.

Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy stated that with calls for $100 oil, prices at the pump will experience upward pressure.

He stated that the year could be more expensive than expected, with the national average possibly reaching $4 per gallon by Memorial Day.

The national average gas price a year ago was $2.44 per gallon.

by Pippa Stevens

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