Keystone Today

Mark the misery on your calendar. Around June 17, the national average price of gasoline is expected to reach $5 a gallon, Patrick De Haan, oil and refined products analyst of GasBuddy, said.

"We're less than 25 cents per gallon away from a national average of $5/gal," De Haan tweeted. "Still holding onto the date that happens as June 17 or so."

In Pennsylvania, the Gasoline Misery Index which tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer will have to spend on gasoline on an annualized basis, stands at $757.

Gasoline prices continued to rise this week, as the nation saw an average of a 16-cent increase in just the last seven days. Today's national average price per gallon has been reported at $4.76, 56 cents higher than a month ago. The latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that on average, Americans will spend $904 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year. In the state of Pennsylvania, the average of $4.86 per gallon is 10 cents higher than last week.

AAA reported that according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 700,000 barrels (bbl) to 219 million bbl last week. Meanwhile, gasoline demand grew from 8.8 million barrels per day (b/d) to 8.98 million b/d as drivers fueled up for their travels during Memorial Day weekend.

AAA says these supply and demand dynamics have contributed to rising pump prices. Coupled with volatile crude oil prices, pump prices will likely remain elevated as long as demand grows and supply remains tight. According to AAA, crude prices have increased amid supply concerns from the market. Crude prices were also boosted by a rise in demand expectations from the market after China lifted COVID-19  restrictions in Shanghai.

Additionally, EIA reported that total domestic stocks dropped by 5.1 million bbl to 414.7 million bbl last week. As a result, the current storage level is approximately 13.5% lower than a year ago, contributing to rising crude prices.   

The Gasoline Misery Index is compiled using gas price data from AAA, average fuel efficiency (mpg) data from the U.S. Department of Energy and average miles driven from MetroMile.com. The index tracks the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline and adjusts using the average miles traveled by the average miles per gallon of American cars.       

According to the EIA, in January 2021 the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. It has more than doubled and has actually increased 104% when compared to Friday's national average price of $4.76. A number that gasolinemiseryindex.com calls the Biden Misery Index, Americans are spending an average of $1,276 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office in January 2020.           

In his effort to bring down pump prices, President Biden announced March 31 the release of up to 180 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) over the next six months. The president said there would be a slight delay in declining gas prices by days and weeks, but that prices would drop by an unknown range. Although prices fell minimally after the release two months ago, the effect was very short-lived.               

Today's national gas price average of $4.76 per gallon has climbed 12.8% since March 31, the day of the SPR release, when gas was $4.22 per gallon, 54 cents cheaper than today, according to AAA.

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