Americans Paying Highest Gas Prices in Seven Years

The price of petroleum is steadily increasing, and Americans are now paying more than they had in the past seven years.

According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of gas on Wednesday topped $3.22, marking the highest price increase since Oct. 2014.

According to the U.S. oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude futures, on Wednesday, the price of a barrel cost $77.60; this was after topping $79, which had not been seen before since November 2014. Roughly a year ago, the price of a WTI barrel cost around $40, according to CNBC.

Last year, demand for petroleum dropped due to the worldwide economic shutdown, which had prompted oil producers to close off the taps. Since then, demand has recovered. Still, producers have been slow to return barrels to the market.

And the group of oil-producing nations known as OPEC+ agreed on Monday to stick to a schedule of returning 400,000 barrels per day to the market by November.

• Oil Hits Multi-Year High on OPEC+ Restraint
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