Old North News

Gas prices continued to decline across the country in the last week, but Americans are still paying a premium at the pump and an analyst warned that volatility in prices remains.

The Gasoline Misery Index on gasmiseryindex.com tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer will have to spend on gasoline on an annualized basis. North Carolina's Index is at $638. 

“Consumers appear to be taking the pressure off their wallets by fueling up less,” Andrew Gross, spokesperson for the American Automobile Association (AAA), said. “And there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic that pump prices will continue to fall, particularly if the global price for oil does not spike. But the overall situation remains very volatile.” 

A combination of lackluster demand for gas and lower oil prices brought pump prices down again over the past week. However, prices are still higher than normal, as North Carolina's current average price per gallon has been reported at $3.94, $1.02 higher than a year ago. 

AAA reported Thursday that according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.52 million b/d to 9.25 million b/d last week. Total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 3.3 million bbl to 225.1 million bbl, an indicator of higher demand reducing inventory last week. 

In a recent national poll distributed by the Senate Opportunity Fund (SOF), 58% of Americans said they blame President Joe Biden for high gas prices. This includes nearly half (49%) of moderate voters and 27% of Democrats. The SOF poll was conducted July 5-7. It surveyed 800 general election likely voters on a national scale. 

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. 

The price is still up significantly since Biden took office. EIA records show that in January 2021 the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. When compared to Friday's national average price of $4.26, gas prices have increased 82.8%. That leads to a number that gasolinemiseryindex.com calls the Biden Misery Index, which shows Americans are spending an average of $1,013 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office.