A gallon of gasoline is now $7.59 in one town in California, as gasoline prices across the nation rise to the highest levels in seven years.
According to KABC 7 Los Angeles, a gas station in the town of Gorda, California, located along the Big Sur coast, is charging $7.59 per gallon of regular gasoline, and $8.50 for a gallon of premium. The reason? According to WPTV 5, the town, located on Highway 1 in Southern California, has only one gas station, and the nearest gas stations are 40 miles to the North and 12 miles to the South. As such, the station can charge exorbitant prices.
WPTV reports that in July 2019, the town’s lone AmeriCo gas station charged as much as $11.75 per gallon.
Even though prices at the Gorda gas station are incredibly high — far above average, even in California — gas prices around the state and around the country continue to rise.
Gas in Monterey County, California, where Gorda is located, is currently at $4.60 a gallon, just slightly above the California average of $4.53, according to AAA. The national average price for a gallon of gas is currently $3.36, up 5 cents from last week, and up 16 cents from earlier this month, when gas rose to $3.20 per gallon. That was the highest recorded price for a gallon of gasoline since 2014, as previously reported by The Daily Wire.
The current price is still a fair distance from the record high of $4.11, set in 2008, but is even further away from the national average at the same time last year, when gas was just $2.16 per gallon, per AAA.
“Compared to the price of gas a year ago, it now costs consumers about $17 more to fill up their vehicles,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement. “That’s the cost of a large pizza with toppings. And unfortunately, it doesn’t look like drivers will be finding relief at the pump any time soon.”
GasBuddy concurred with AAA. They recorded gas prices at $3.30 last week, citing the increase in crude oil prices due to increased demand and OPEC nations maintaining their production quotas.
“The national average closed the week by climbing to yet another fresh seven-year high, as the price of oil continues to drag gas prices along for the wild ride, leaving motorists on empty,” said GasBuddy head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan, in a statement. “With OPEC holding back oil production and strong global oil demand, the situation will no doubt pave the road with even higher gas prices in the weeks ahead. Until several bottlenecks ease, including supply chains and low global inventories of oil, natural gas and coal, we’ll be stuck feeling the pinch of rising oil and gasoline prices. The bad news is that for now, all I see is the upward trend at the pump continuing into the weeks ahead with no sign of relief just yet.”