Gas prices skyrocket in U.S.

With the Ukrainian-Russian conflict raging, gas prices in the United States have skyrocketed with some prices reaching $7 per gallon in Los Angeles. Earlier we spoke with Aldo Vazquez, from AAA, on whether we can expect any relief at the pumps.

What are gas prices like in Arizona right now?

Vazquez said that the average price of gas is around 4 dollars and 54 cents. This price is up 65 cents from a week ago and about up 89 cents from a month ago.

“You’ll be finding gas price averages higher in the metro area. So, definitely out here in Maricopa County. Coconino County is the county with the highest gas prices right now,” Vazquez said.

The pricing deals a lot with locality and the environmental standards in certain counties.

Navajo County and Apache County are some of the areas where gas prices are the lowest in the state.

Vasquez added that the longer the Russia-Ukraine conflict goes on, “gas prices will continue to rise because the price of crude oil is staggering high. It continues to go up.

Before this conflict, a barrel of crude oil cost around $90 and since the conflict it continues to rise. It is now about $108 per barrel.

“That demand has been going up steadily so that is one of the reasons why prices are going up as well and we’re just dealing with a tightened supply at the moment so we have that disparity between supply and demand that’s going to put more pressure on the crude oil market,” Vasquez said.

And now with the summer season approaching, more people will be traveling via car but data shows that the rising prices in gas may not stop people from taking road trips according to past studies.