San Marcans see record gas prices, cost per gallon rises by 61 cents in week

Gas prices continue to rise in Texas with the cost at the pump jumping up approximately 62 cents in the last week, according to AAA.

The Austin-San Marcos area was paying around $3.98 per gallon for regular unleaded gas as of Thursday — a record price according to AAA — compared to $3.37 on March 3. AAA said Texans are seeing gas price averages at a level never seen before in the Lone Star State with averages sitting at $4 per gallon on Thursday because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Gas prices are climbing at a weekly pace we’ve never seen before, breaking records that set in 2008 across the state,” AAA Texas spokesperson Daniel Armbruster said in a statement. “Prices are anticipated to keep rising due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the impact it’s causing on crude oil prices.”

AAA added that market analysts attribute the sudden spike in gas prices to the uncertainty in the global oil market related to how big of an impact the loss of Russian crude will have. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced a U.S. ban on imported Russian oil. “Volatility in the gas and oil market is expected to continue until the oil market figures out how to balance the loss of Russian energy,” AAA said.

Additionally, the cost of crude oil is currently around 50-60% of what drivers pay at the pump and barrels of oil reached highs not seen since 2008, AAA added.

Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, said gas prices will continue to rise across the country but pace of increase will start to slow down.

“Obviously, it’s been a pretty tumultuous week,” De Haan said in a Facebook Live. “The national average is up 58 cents a gallon from a week ago. But the good news is that pace of increase will now slow down. You shouldn’t have to worry about going outside and seeing prices up 40 cents a gallon. The increases, again, will continue but the pace will likely slow down.” De Haan said he expects gas prices to continue to be high for months to come.

“It’s going to get a little bit worse. How long will prices remain this high? I’m still thinking this is going to be probably months until [Russian President Vladimir] Putin gives up, until there’s a regime change or until something changes the course of Russia’s war on Ukraine,” De Haan said. “So, it’s going to be a little while. I expect it will hit more of us in the wallet in the coming weeks as we fill up … I will say that U.S. gasoline consumption has not really been that much higher than it was in the weeks prior that’s a good sign Americans are just taking it slow, we’re relaxing. You don’t need to go and fill up your tank. Prices are just going to be high for a while.”

According to GasBuddy, average prices were down slightly with U.S. averages sitting at $4.338 per gallon. Per AAA, El Paso drivers are paying the most on average at $4.19 per gallon of the major metropolitan areas surveyed in Texas, while Amarillo drivers are paying the least at $3.74.

Texans are paying the 14th lowest gas price average of any state in the U.S., according to gasprices.aa.com., while Californians are paying the most at $5.69 on average for a gallon of unleaded fuel.