Keystone Today

The increase in gasoline prices may have slowed in the last week but Americans are still paying an additional $1,000 more a year on gasoline alone.

The Gasoline Misery Index on gasmiseryindex.com, which tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer will have to spend on gasoline on an annualized basis, currently sits at $1,009. In Pennsylvania, the weekly index is $833. The average of price of gas nationally is $5 a gallon.

"Releasing barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves is a political stunt that has not made a dent on gas prices," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Twitter. "We need real energy policy solutions from the Biden administration so Americans can stop paying $5 for a gallon of gas."

Gasoline price increases slightly eased this week, as the nation saw a drop in demand. Today's national average price per gallon has been reported at $5, 48 cents higher than a month ago. The latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that on average, Americans will spend $1,009 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year. In the state of Pennsylvania, the average of $5.05 per gallon is 1 cent lower than last week.

On Thursday, AAA reported that according to the latest data from the Energy Information   Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 700,000 bbl to 217.5 million bbl last week. Meanwhile, gasoline demand dropped slightly from 9.2 million b/d to 9.09 million b/d. The slight drop in gas demand from American drivers has helped to limit pump price increases. However, as crude oil prices remain volatile, the price per gallon for gasoline will likely remain elevated, AAA reports.

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 nearly 115% when compared to Friday's national average price of $5. A number that gasolinemiseryindex.com calls the Biden Misery Index, Americans are spending an average of $1,402 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office in January.

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

Today's national average of $5 per gallon has climbed 18.5% since March 31, the day of the SPR release, when gas averaged $4.22 per gallon, 78 cents cheaper than today, according to AAA.