Old North News

Gasoline prices nationally and in North Carolina continue to go up.

The national average price per gallon on June 10 was reported at $4.99 — 61 cents higher than a month prior and 23 cents higher than a week prior, the Gasoline Misery Index reported.

The latest Gasoline Misery Index reported that on average, Americans will spend $1,005 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year. In North Carolina, the misery number sits at $1,109, with the average of $4.66 per gallon being 22 cents higher than last week.

"The pain of higher prices continues for US consumers," NBC2 News said in a tweet. "Record gas prices drove inflation to 8.6% for the 12 months ending in May, higher than the pace in April."

The Gas Misery Index compares how much people nationwide are paying for gas with prior years. This is determined using AAA's gas price data, the Department of Energy's fuel efficiency data and Metromile's data on average miles driven.

New data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 800,000 barrels of crude oil to 218.2 million barrels recently, AAA reported. Demand for gas, however, went up to 9.2 million barrels per day from 8.98 million barrels per day. Rising gas demand is typical of summer months, and this summer is no different. These factors, as well as the cost of crude oil rising, means that there is still no end in sight for high gas prices.

EIA data showed that the national average price for gas was $2.33 per gallon in January 2021. It has more than doubled, having increased by 114% when compared to June 10's national average price of $4.99. Americans are spending an average of $1,395 more per year on gasoline today compared with when President Joe Biden entered office in January 2020.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the consumer price index data for the 12 months ending in May. The data showed an 8.6% all-items annual increase, with the largest contributors being increases in the indexes for shelter, gas and food. The gasoline index climbed 4.1% in May and 48.7% in the last year.

In an effort to bring down pump prices, Biden released up to 180 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve over a six-month span on March 31, Biden said in a press conference. 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 effect was very short-lived.

The national average of $4.99 per gallon on June 10 has climbed 18.2% since March 31, the day of the reserve release, when gas averaged $4.22 per gallon, which is 77 cents cheaper, AAA reported.