Panic on the asphalt: the price of gasoline does not stop rising in the US

A gas station in Malibu (California) on March 10. DPA via Europa Press (Europa Press)

The price of gasoline continues to rise in the United States, and with it the panic of millions of drivers in Los Angeles, the great motorized city in the United States.

The marquees of hundreds of service stations last week showed prices approaching eight dollars per gallon.

The rise in prices has given a respite this weekend, but experts say that gasoline and diesel will continue to cause concern behind the wheel in weeks of inflationary pressure and the war in Ukraine.

"It's crazy," defines the situation Beth Rooney, a 26-year-old designer at a gas station in Culver City, where on Friday the price of a gallon exceeded six dollars.

"Fortunately, I can continue to work from home, but many of my friends have already returned to the offices only to see their salaries evaporate ... it is getting harder and harder to make ends meet," said Rooney, to whom it costs 30% more to fill the tank of your Kia Soul for a few weeks now.

The increase in fuel coincides with a return to normality.

Although some may continue to work remotely, millions of people have returned to work in California, one of the last states to relax pandemic measures.

The entity may experience a chronic drought for decades, but the last few weeks have caused widespread unease over the most vital liquid for the State: gasoline.

Joel, a 32-year-old gardener from El Salvador, is dealing with high prices in a city where, on average, a vehicle travels 34 kilometers a day.

A few days ago, he found in the Castle Heights neighborhood, in the center of the city, a station with a gallon for less than six dollars in the same area where he mows gardens twice a week.

“I was lucky because I work around here and I don't have to drive to find cheaper prices.

As they say, God squeezes, but does not hang”, he laughs, but he becomes serious moments later when he confesses that he is close to asking his clients for more money.

And he fears losing his job if he raises his prices.

"The situation is difficult, and not even when there will be a solution," he says.

The American Automobile Association, which monitors fuel prices nationwide, says it remains unclear when a crisis exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine will stop tightening.

“The price of crude oil accounts for 50% of what drivers pay at the pumps.

The war is causing turmoil in a complex oil market, making it difficult to determine if we are close to peak prices," said Andrew Gross, a spokesman for the organization.

President Joe Biden said last week that the conflict in Ukraine was going to hit fuel prices.

"Defending freedom has its cost," assured the president in a message where he confirmed that his country would close the key to Russian crude.

This decision adds to the inflationary pressures that Americans have been experiencing for a year, with inflation touching 8%, the worst figure in 40 years.

This Monday, the average price for a gallon of gasoline was 4.32 dollars, an increase of 26 cents in the last week and 1.47 dollars more than a year ago.

In January 2019, the average price per gallon was 2.25.

Utah has seen the price of gas jump 50 cents in just one week;

Arizona, 48 cents.

The situation worries many politicians.

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, the entity that has the most expensive gasoline in the country (5.74 dollars per gallon), recently said that he is studying some contingency initiatives.

Among these, ending a local tax that makes gasoline more expensive by 51 cents a gallon.

This tax, the highest in the United States, was approved by the Democrats in 2017. Most of the money collected, which this year will be about 8,000 million dollars, is intended for the maintenance of highways and city streets.

The local administration is studying cutting the tax, but fears that the benefits will not be passed on to consumers and that the big winners will be the oil companies.

Local authorities have issued an alert call.

This Monday, the Los Angeles police have asked consumers to be on the lookout for gasoline thieves, which has become a precious commodity.

Some departments have reported criminals drilling into the tanks of parked cars to extract the fuel.

In Houston, a gang of thieves milked the underground tank of a station.

Over the weekend, in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, a man was detained after paying $20 for fuel when he had actually forced the valve to fill two large tanks hidden in a construction truck.

Those responsible for motorists' associations believe that in the coming weeks episodes like this will increase.

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