Gas prices in the United States are rising to their highest levels since 2008 as the Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupts the global energy market.
The average price of a gallon of gas reached $4,009 on Sunday, according to AAA, up 57 cents from a month ago. Its all-time high was in July 2008, when the average price reached $4,114 per gallon. (If inflation is taken into account, that would equal $5.25 per gallon today.)
Russia’s increasingly violent war on Ukraine, which has forced more than a million residents to flee, has led to intense volatility in energy markets, in part because Russia supplies 10 percent of the world’s oil and more than a third of its natural gas. consumed in the European Union .
Some refiners and traders no longer buy crude oil from the country, even shipments are offered at a big discount. Refineries, shippers, insurers and banks are pulling out for fear of imposing sanctions by dealing with Russia. Ukraine’s leaders are calling on countries to stop buying Russian oil, and US politicians have begun to support that move.
The price of Brent oil, the international benchmark, rose 7 percent on Friday to $118 a barrel. In early December, it cost about $65 a barrel.
Gas prices were already rising during the pandemic, partly as a result of fluctuations in supply and demand. The higher prices have prompted people to review their household budgets, sometimes by forgoing leisure activities and in other cases by cutting back on spending on essentials. High gas prices are fueling inflation, which hit a 40-year high in January.
Economists expect the consumer price index, a closely watched inflation measure to be released on Thursday, showing consumer prices rose 7.9 percent over the year through February and 0.8 percent from the previous year. month. That would be an increase of 7.5 percent in the year to January, showing that inflation has not yet peaked.
