Californians saw gas prices soar to $4.72 a gallon Wednesday even as President Joe Biden vowed to keep working to cut the price of gasoline.
Experts claim $5 a gallon could be the normal price for the state in the near future, CNN Business reported Wednesday.
“This isn’t just an issue for West Coasters: Some of the factors behind the record prices, particularly those related to the switch to renewable fuels, could affect US gas costs nationally in the next few years,” the article continued.
The article explained other reasons for the surge in gas prices:
The US national average is currently $3.51 a gallon. Prices in California have long been among the highest, but they’ve soared in recent years in part because of changes at some West Coast refineries. Facilities have closed in some cases, while others are being modified to refine renewable fuels like diesel made from vegetable oil.
Biden promised this week to continue trying to lower the price of gas, a few months after he released oil from strategic oil reserves, Breitbart News reported. Prices jumped again when he announced in November the release of 50 million barrels of oil in an effort to curb costs, “more than any release by an administration in modern history.”
San Diego residents are also feeling pain when visiting the gas pumps, according to Fox 5.
“On Wednesday, San Diego set a new record high for its average price of a gallon of regular unleaded, self-serve gas at about $4.73, according to the Auto Club of Southern California,” the outlet stated.
Prices at the pump have risen under Biden by approximately $1.00 since February 2021, Breitbart News reported this week.
California’s recent record was the highest in the nation, per the CNN article.
“The next highest record price was $4.70 a gallon in Alaska, but that was set in July 2008, when a spike in oil prices resulted in the record-high national average of $4.11 a gallon,” the report said.