“The Bay Area has just recorded the highest average gasoline price on record in the United States,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysts at GasBuddy. “Thanks to a myriad of challenges, derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, the full average is now costing motorists in the Bay Area nearly $ 62. “

That’s a nearly 65% ​​premium over the average price in the cheapest US city, Lawton, Oka, where the average is $ 2.86 per gallon, he said.

GasBuddy attributes the rise in gasoline prices in the region mainly to heavy rains, which resulted in refinery blackouts, as well as the highest oil prices in more than seven years “due to a growing energy crisis And an increase in demand that has exceeded the world’s oil reserves.

Read: Why Oil Traders Say This Key Crude Delivery Point Seems ‘Essentially Empty’

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate CL.1 crude,
-0.80%

CLZ21,
-0.80%
saw its first-month futures contract at $ 84.65 per barrel on Tuesday, the highest settlement price since Oct. 13, 2014, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Also on Tuesday, RBX21 gasoline futures,
-1.55%
set at $ 2.517 per gallon, the highest price since September 30, 2014.

In January, GasBuddy predicted a 2021 peak for San Francisco prices in the $ 3.85 to $ 4.25 range, but seeing prices nearly 90 cents higher than the low end of that range offers a “sign. the difficulty of one year anticipating all the jokers. that have driven San Francisco and, potentially, other parts of California to record highs, ”De Haan told MarketWatch.

When retail gasoline prices hit similar high levels in 2012, it was a temporary situation caused by a refinery fire, he said. “My concern here is that even after refineries are brought back into service after a deluge or rain, prices may remain near or at record highs thanks to the continued rise in the price of oil.”

“The pain at the pump has never been so bad,” but prices could potentially reach close to $ 5 a gallon in the Bay Area if oil production does not catch up with the global rise in demand, he said. he declares. And a further price hike ahead of the holidays could lead to a “record starting point for 2022,” he added.

On Thursday, the average price of regular gasoline in the country was $ 3.388 per gallon, up 21 cents from last month and nearly $ 1.25 from a year ago. GasBuddy data shows. The highest average recorded for the entire United States was set on July 16, 2008 at $ 4,103.

Still, record gasoline prices in San Francisco aren’t as bad as gasoline prices in Hong Kong, where the average is approaching $ 10 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.