Americans should get ready for $5 a gallon gas, analyst warns

Americans can expect increasing pain at the pump as rising oil costs — along with rising demand and a reduction in supply — continue to push up prices at gas stations across the U.S. That spike is unlikely to ease anytime soon as Russia’s war with Ukraine intensifies, experts say.

The current national average price of gas has soared to $3.78 a gallon, jumping 20 cents in the last week alone, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. Fuel costs are up roughly a dollar from a year ago, industry data show, a blow for millions of Americans grappling with a broad increase in inflation.

In U.S. states with the priciest fuel, motorists already are paying nearly $4.50 a gallon, according to price tracker GasBuddy.

De Haan, tweeted on February 28 that the average gas price in some U.S. cities will reach $5 a gallon “in the next couple of weeks.”

San Francisco on Thursday became the first U.S. city with an average gas price of more than $5 per gallon, an increase of over 30% in one year.

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