By Pepper Fisher
CLALLAM COUNTY – If you’re feeling like you need to take out a loan or find a wheelbarrow full of money to fill your tank, it’s for good reason. The American Automobile Association, (AAA) is reporting this week that the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is the highest in our state’s history. On Monday, AAA data showed that the average price for a gallon of gas statewide was $4.45. That’s including Washington state’s gas tax, one of the highest in the country, currently at 49 cents per gallon.
Gas prices are skyrocketing across the U.S. as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupts the global energy market. The average price nationally for a gallon of gas is $4.25, that’s a new national record as well.
The AAA website has a county-by-county breakdown of gas prices in Washington. Clallam County was in the median range Wednesday, averaging between $4.52-$4.60 per gallon.
Gas prices were already rising during the pandemic, due in part to fluctuations in supply and demand. But after the U.S. and European Union imposed economic sanctions on Russia, which supplies 10% of the world’s oil but only about 3% of US imports, many refineries stopped purchasing oil from the country. That has led to a sharp drop in the supply of oil, which drives gas prices up as demand continues to rise.
That’s not to say that the big oil companies are hurting. According to CNBC, BP reported their 2021 yearly profit soared to an eight-year high of almost $13 billion. Shell Oil posted annual revenues of $19 billion.
And U.S. competitors Chevron and Exxon Mobil recorded full-year net profits of $15 billion and $23 billion, respectively.