Why Gas Prices Are Soaring Across New York State

Gas prices are surging to an eight-month high in New York State and will likely continue to rise. Here's why.

Triple-A says the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is now $3.78. That's 15 cents more than one week ago and over 20 cents up from last month.

Gas In New York State Continues To Increase

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The average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gas in New York State is a few more cents than the national average.

As of Tuesday morning, the average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is $3.839. That's about 12 cents more than one week ago, according to Triple-A.

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Reasons Why Gas Is Skyrocketing In New York State

Experts are blaming the sudden spike in gas prices on production cuts, higher oil prices and the recent record-breaking heat.

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"Despite another week of lackluster demand for gasoline, pump prices rose. The primary culprit is a higher oil price, which has recently increased to the mid-$70s per barrel," Triple-A states in a press release. "According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased slightly from 8.76 to 8.86 million b/d last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks fell from 219.5 to 218.4 million bbl. With supplies tight, if demand climbs, pump prices will follow suit."

Gas Prices May Continue To Rise

Experts caution that prices could jump even further if there are refinery issues or a hurricane affects oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

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"It is higher nationwide except for the Gulf Coast, Texas, and New Mexico,“ said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “Some industry experts speculate that scorching temps in that region are keeping people off the road.”

Officials do point to a positive. One year ago the national average of gas was $4.212, about 55 cents more than it is today.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.