Gas prices in California soared to a record-high of $4.72 per gallon Thursday and experts say $5 per gallon will likely be the norm soon.
The national average is $3.52 per gallon and rising faster than California’s prices on a percentage basis, reports CNN.
“California is the proxy for what will happen with the energy transition,” Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service, the firm that tracks gas data for AAA, told the news outlet.
“A number of refineries have closed permanently. … Getting people away from fossil fuels might be the right thing to do, but it is not without pain.”
The average price of a regular gallon of gas in Los Angeles and Long Beach was a record $4.77 on Monday, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California, an increase of $1.22 from one year ago.
In Orange County, the average price of a gallon of regular gas is $4.74, also a record.
“Drivers are used to higher prices in California, but certainly what we’ve been seeing over the last couple of weeks is raising eyebrows,” Doug Shupe, a spokesperson for AAA, told the Los Angeles Times.
“These increases, week after week, it can be frustrating,” he added. “It’s tough for families right now, and for many people right now, because of rising prices in many other areas.”
President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned that gas prices could get higher if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to invade Ukraine.
“We’re prepared to deploy all the tools and authority at our disposal to provide relief at the gas pump,” the president declared. “We are taking active steps to alleviate the pressure on our own energy markets and offset rising prices.
Biden did not spell out Tuesday what additional steps his administration would take to reduce oil prices should the situation in Ukraine worsen. In late November he ordered the release of a record 50 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve to reduce price pressures.
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