Gas prices have hit new heights in recent days, and it is causing financial pain at the pumps for many Americans. Consumers are now looking for who is to blame for this dramatic increase in gas prices. Soaring gas prices are having an impact on household budgets because the pay is staying the same for Americans but everything else like food and gas is increasing. 

Wall Street estimates that the gas prices have reached a new peak, with an average of $4.33 per gallon.  The previous record was $4.10 during the financial crisis of 2008.

How did we get here? “The gas price increase comes from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine pushing the prices high,” said Patrick De Hann, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis.

Here are the main reasons why gas prices are increasing. 

When the pandemic first hit us, the gasoline prices fell, because everyone took shelter in their homes, this cost price to go down to at least $1.94 in around April of 2020.  

However as the pandemic slowly ended and  vaccines came into play the prices slowly increased to $2.82, this is 45% increase for April of 2020 to March of 2021.

Additionally, Russia’s war on Ukraine has caused a spike on oil and gas prices in just a week. On March 8, President Biden announced the U.S. ban on Russian oil and gas imports, his goal was to take aim at Russia’s aim revenue. 

However, the U.S. only imports 10% of its oil and gas from Russia, so why are the prices still going up? 

According to De Hann this is due to a larger   global oil market. Republicans are blaming President Biden for all of this. President Biden’s policies for higher gas prices, and his order to pause oil and gas in January of 2021. Oil and gas prices have gone up, but companies have been slow on catching up to the rapid rise in gasoline demand. That caused a major increase in the prices. 

How can You spend less on gas ? For starters you can maintain your vehicle. A maintained vehicle uses less gasoline because it works better. Stop using premium gas, the majority of cars run just fine on regular or mid grade gasoline. Buying gas for less, you can track local GasBuddy which aggregates price data from user reports. You can also join a warehouse club like Costco. Last but not least you can drive less, and also be healthier. Walking a few extra steps each day can have a major impact on both your mind and your body.