The Sconi

Gasoline prices continue to careen out of control this week across the country as prices rose by an average of 23 cents over the last seven days, leaving the national average price for a gallon of gas at a staggering $4.99.

Over the past month, average prices have climbed by 61 cents per gallon, according to GasMisery.com. The steady price climb has analysts forecasting that on average, Americans will spend $1,005 more annually on gasoline than they did at this time last year.

"The pain of higher prices continues for U.S. consumers,” NBC 2 News said in a June 10 tweet. “Record gas prices drove inflation to 8.6% for the 12 months ending in May, higher than the pace in April."

In Wisconsin, the average price now stands at $4.92 per gallon, 24 cents higher than a week ago, which places the state’s Gas Misery number at $1,201, according to the Gasoline Misery Index.

The index tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer is paying for gasoline on an annualized basis. Compiled using gas price data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), average fuel efficiency (miles per gallon) data from the U.S. Department of Energy, and average miles driven from MetroMile.com, the index tracks the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline and adjusts using the average miles traveled by the average miles per gallon of American cars.

Earlier this month, AAA reported that according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 800,000 billion barrels to 218.2 million billion barrels during the first week of June.

At the same time, demand for gasoline spiked from 8.98 million barrels per day (BPD) to 9.2 million BPD.

Supply and demand have a significant impact on fuel prices, AAA reported. As crude oil prices continue to fluctuate, forecasts call for pump prices to remain high, as long as demand grows, and supply remains tight.

Today’s national average of $4.99 per gallon represents an 18.2% price increase since March 31, the day of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) release ordered by President Joe Biden. Back then, gas averaged $4.22 per gallon, 77 cents below current prices.

According to the EIA, in January 2021, the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. Since then, the price has increased 114%.

Americans are spending $1,395 more per year on gasoline since Biden took over the White House, a number that the Gasoline Misery Index refers to as the “Biden Misery Index.”

With an eye on reversing the trend of surging pump prices, the president recently announced the release of up to 180 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve between now and October. Biden said that there would be a slight delay in declining gas prices, but that prices would drop.

To date, the release of oil from the strategic reserve has had a nominal impact as prices continue to surge.

On June 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the 12 months ending May 2022. The data showed an 8.6% all items annual increase, with the largest contributors being increases in the indexes for shelter, gasoline, and food.

The report shows the gasoline index spiked 4.1% in May and 48.7% over the last 12 months.