National average gas, diesel prices set new records

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Average national gas and diesel prices set yet another new record on Tuesday, exceeding the previous records set earlier this year. The national average for gasoline is now $4.36 per gallon, and will likely continue to climb. Diesel prices also continue to soar, reaching a new all-time record of $5.53 per gallon on Tuesday morning, and are not showing signs of slowing.

As Memorial Day and summer tourist season begins, costs will likely continue to increase. “There’s little, if any, good news about fuel prices heading into summer, and the problem could become worse should we see an above-average hurricane season, which could knock out refinery capacity at a time we badly need it as refined product inventories continue to plummet,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

Fuel costs briefly stabilized after spiking in March, but as the Russo-Ukrainian War continued to worsen, prices began to rise once again as the European Union considered sanctioning Russian oil. In just a week, prices rose a substantial 15¢ per gallon of gasoline nationally. “Liquid fuels have turned into liquid gold, with prices for gasoline and diesel spiraling out of control with little power to harness them as the imbalance between supply and demand globally continues to widen with each passing day,” said De Haan.

Despite rising costs and abandoning $3.4 billion of assets in Russian operations, fuel production giant Exxon Mobil has reported a profit of $5.48 billion, more than doubling its profits for first quarter last year. The corporation was also reporting below-average share profits of $1.28 last month, in stark contrast to the expected $2.23 per share.