Massachusetts gas prices staying above $5 a gallon: ‘This is the new normal for now’

Week after week, Bay State drivers hold paying greater than ever earlier than to replenish their tanks as fuel costs proceed to remain at once-unimaginable ranges.

The Massachusetts common for a gallon of normal fuel has surged to a record-high $5.04, which is up from $4.96 final week and $4.47 a month in the past. Costs have jumped a whopping 71% from this time final yr, when fuel value $2.94 per gallon.

The nationwide common is now $5.01 — an all-time excessive by no means seen since AAA started amassing pricing information in 2000.

“That is the brand new regular for now at the least,” Mark Schieldrop of AAA Northeast instructed the Herald on Monday. “I don’t know if we’re going to see costs this excessive for very lengthy, however a couple of weeks at the least.

“It looks like we’re in a collision course with time,” he added, predicting that fuel demand will drop due to the excessive costs. “It doesn’t appear conceivable that customers aren’t already chopping again. We’re getting stories of fuel stations seeing folks chopping again and shopping for much less fuel.”

The price of a barrel of oil is over $120, almost double final August’s value, as elevated oil demand outpaces the tight world provide. The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to skyrocketing fuel costs, with the U.S. and different nations banning Russian oil.

Whereas the common for fuel in Massachusetts is $5.04, the common value in Suffolk County is now as much as $5.18. Costs on Martha’s Winery are even above $6, averaging $6.04 a gallon — and costs on Nantucket are shut behind at $5.89 a gallon.