The price of regular gasoline on average across the U.S. hit an all-time high on Tuesday at $4.173, surpassing a record previously set in 2008.
that the U.S. would break its record price of $4.10 a gallon, but that does not account for inflation. In today's terms, the record price would be equal to about $5.24 after accounting for inflation.
Oil prices soared early Monday before retreating. Benchmark U.S. crude surged to $130 a barrel overnight, then moderated to around $119, a 3% gain, in afternoon trading. The international price skyrocketed to $139 before falling back to about $123 a barrel. U.S. stocks tumbled, with the S&P 500 falling 3%, its biggest drop in 16 months.
The U.S. imported 245 million barrels of oil from Russia last year — about 8% of all U.S. oil imports — up from 198 million barrels in 2020. That's less than the U.S. gets from Canada or Mexico but more than it imported last year from Saudi Arabia.The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. hit a new record high of $4.104 on Monday, surpassing the previous record of $4.103 set in 2008 according to data from GasBuddy.
President Joe Biden has been reluctant to ban Russian oil, fearing it could further fuel inflation heading into the midterm elections this November.