U.S. Gas Prices Hit All Time Record High

(KNSI) — The U.S. hit its all-time record for gas prices as the cost for a gallon of regular unleaded jumped six cents overnight to $4.17.

Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy.com says most areas could see gas prices go up again this week by anywhere from five to 25 cents. He says the usual culprit of the “summer blend switchover” is just a fraction of the problem, adding, “Now that prices have really jumped up and maybe more like 90% of the recent increase here in the last week is because of Russia and 10% maybe due to the switchover in summer gasoline. The switch over the summer gasoline is having a minor impact but the bulk of the price movements and the price of oil have been related to the Russia situation.”

Overnight, reports for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Russia began attacking the humanitarian corridors allowing residents to flee the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Irpin, just to the west of Kyiv, is under evacuation, and in Sumy, the humanitarian corridor is expected to be open until 9:00 p.m. local time, 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.

In the meantime, drivers say they feel stuck saying they have to drive due to a lack of public transportation, knowing the price won’t come down anytime soon. Others are still reeling from the sticker shock, with another driver saying the pump read $40, and her car still wasn’t full.

Gas around St. Cloud is eight cents higher than Monday at $3.78 a gallon, according to Triple A.

Triple-A says drivers can maximize their fuel economy by avoiding “jack rabbit” starts. Rapid acceleration and sudden hard braking can lower fuel economy by 15% to 30% at highway speed and 10% to 40% in stop-and-go traffic. They also say don’t speed and drive at a constant speed if you can by using cruise control. For more, click here.

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