US gas price hits a record $5 a gallon: auto group
The average price of premium gasoline at the pump has surpassed $5 a gallon for the first time in the United States, the American Automobile Association (AAA) reported Saturday.
That record level, coming on top of months of soaring inflation, represents the latest bad news for President Joe Biden just five months before crucial midterm elections.
A year ago, the average price of gas in the US was just $3.07; since then it has shot up by 62 percent.
While Europeans have long been accustomed to paying much more at the pump, US gas taxes are lower — leaving car-loving Americans in shock over surging prices.
The increase in gas prices follows a steady rise in oil prices — which had plummeted in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic as demand sagged, but have risen again as world economic activity resumes.
Oil prices soared further after Moscow invaded Ukraine in late February, and as international sanctions against Russia — a major petroleum producer — began to bite.
A barrel of crude currently sells for more than $120 in both London and New York.
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