Gas prices are still on the rise and could soon reach $5 per gallon, a figure that has forced some Americans to rethink their leisure travel.
The national average gas price climbed five cents Monday night into Tuesday and 10 cents since Saturday, now hitting a record $4.92 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.
Americans are paying $1.87 more than they were just a year ago, when the price was $3.05, per the AAA, according to Foxbusiness.
During a speech last month, Biden remarked the U.S. has “made enormous strides” in recovering its economy — and credited his own policies — while he blamed inflation and record-high gas prices on the coronavirus pandemic and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I want every American to know that I’m taking inflation very seriously and it’s my top domestic priority,” Biden said at the White House on May 7.
“I want us to be crystal clear about the problem,” Biden added.
He continued, “There are two leading causes of inflation we’re seeing today. The first cause of inflation is a once-in-a-century pandemic. Not only did it shut down our global economy, it threw the supply chain and demand completely out of whack.”
“These supply challenges have been further hampered by the onset of Delta and Omicron viruses. And you’ve all seen it and you’ve all felt it,” Biden added.
“Some of the roots of the inflation are outside our control, to state the obvious,” he also said.
According to an industry expert, the price for a gallon of gas could touch or surpass $5.00.
Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told FOX Business that the hurricane season could disrupt oil production, further driving up the price of gas.
“A major storm making landfall along the Gulf Coast, where 15% of the nation’s oil production and over 45% of the nation’s refinery capacity is located, can result in a significant supply disruption sending prices even higher,” Lipow said.
The hurricane season started June 1 and runs until November 30.
Summer travel and subsequently high fuel demand could further impact the price point, Lipow said.
As for the cause of the new record, economist Steve Moore said the still-surging price is the result of President Joe Biden’s own “self-inflicted wounds.”
“This is a result of policies that were implemented,” Moore continued. “These are self-inflicted wounds that are not a result of COVID. But in fact, because COVID’s basically over, we should be seeing less inflation, better growth.”
“I’d love to see President Biden say, we’re going to work toward a pause on the climate change craziness, and we’re going to continue to drill and to get American oil and gas. I think that would start to bring that oil price down,” he said during an interview on “Varney & Co.,” Monday. “I was looking at those charts you were showing earlier on the show, and it was amazing because, I think you said it was $4.45 a gallon for the national average for the gas price, it was about $2.39 or so a gallon the day that Joe Biden took office. So do the math there. That means that we’ve got a doubling in the gas price in 15 months.”
