Old North News

North Carolina drivers are feeling the heat as the latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that they will spend an average of $969 more on gasoline this year than they did last year. Patrick De Haan, oil and refined products analyst of GasBuddy, said he expects the national average to reach $5 per gallon around June 17.

Gasoline prices continued to rise this week, as the nation saw an average of a 16 cent increase in just the last seven days. Today's national average price per gallon has been reported at $4.76, 56 cents higher than a month ago. The latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that on average, Americans will spend $819 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year. In North Carolina, the average of $4.44 per gallon is 8 cents higher than last week and the misery number sits at $819.

The Gasoline Misery Index tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer is paying for gasoline on an annualized basis. Compiled using gas price data from the American Automobile Association (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.

"We're less than 25c/gal away from a national average of $5/gal. Still holding on to the date that happens as June 17 or so," De Haan said on Twitter Thursday (June 2).

AAA reported that according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 700,000 bbl to 219 million bbl last week. Meanwhile, gasoline demand grew from 8.8 million b/d to 8.98 million b/d as drivers fueled up for their travels during Memorial Day weekend. AAA said these supply and demand dynamics have contributed to rising pump prices. Coupled with volatile crude oil prices, pump prices will likely remain elevated as long as demand grows and supply remains tight.

Crude prices have increased amid supply concerns from the market, according to AAA. Crude prices were also boosted by a rise in demand expectations from the market after China lifted COVID-19 restrictions in Shanghai. Additionally, EIA reported that total domestic stocks dropped by 5.1 million bbl to 414.7 million bbl last week. As a result, the current storage level is approximately 13.5% lower than a year ago, contributing to rising crude prices.

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 104% when compared to Friday's national average price of $4.76, a number that the Gasoline Misery Index calls the Biden Misery Index. Americans are spending an average of $1,276 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office in January.

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

Today's national gas price average of $4.76 per gallon has climbed 12.8% since March 31, the day of the SPR release, when gas was $4.22 per gallon, 54 cents cheaper than today, according to AAA.