Gas prices up another 6 cents and near $5 locally

The $4.94 price today is all-time high for the state

The price of gas for regular unleaded went up an average of 6 cents a gallon since Monday to $4.940, an all-time high in New York state, AAA is reporting this morning.

The price of $4.88 on Monday was down 5 cents from the previous Monday, while the national price jumped 25 cents in the week.

The state price was down due to the state suspending its 4-percent share of the sales tax on gas. That knocked about 16 cents off the price.

But the cost has continued to go up. AAA said the price of crude oil is about $120 a barrel.

“Crude prices have increased amid supply concerns from the market as the European Union works to implement a 90 percent ban on Russian oil imports by the end of this year,” AAA said on Monday. “Crude prices were also boosted by increased demand expectations from the market after China lifted COVID-19 restrictions in Shanghai. Additionally, EIA reported that total domestic stocks decreased. As a result, the current storage level is approximately 13.5 percent lower than a year ago, contributing to rising crude prices.”

While regular unleaded is at an all-time high and jumped 6 cents since yesterday, diesel is at $6.295, down a penny from $6.306 on Monday and from $6.452 a week ago. (A year ago the average price in NY was $3.086 a gallon for regular unleaded gas and $3.244 for diesel.)

Orleans has the highest average price per gallon in Western New York at $4.852 a gallon and Cattaraugus is the lowest at $4.698, AAA said.

Several counties have average prices over $5 a gallon – Franklin, Clinton, Hamilton, Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), Richmond (Staten Island), New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Duchess. Westchester has the highest price at $5.148 a gallon for regular unleaded.