Gas Prices Near $4 In Ohio, More Price Hikes Expected

OHIO — The average gallon of gas in the U.S. now costs more than $4.

While Ohio drivers are paying slightly less at the pump, about $3.83 per gallon, prices are climbing steadily across the Buckeye State too. Last week, a gallon of gas cost, on average, $3.33 in Ohio. In seven days, that per gallon cost has increased a staggering 50 cents.

Gas hit its most expensive in Ohio in May 2011, when the average gallon of unleaded cost $4.16. Could Buckeye State residents soon be paying record-breaking costs at the pump? Circumstances suggest there’s no sign of a slowdown in price hikes.

Neighboring states like West Virginia and Kentucky both saw steep increases in average gas prices last week too, increasing 55 cents and 56 cents respectively. Pennsylvanians are already paying $4.23 for the average gallon of gas.

Fuel prices are flying upward in part because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. and its allies are imposing stiff sanctions on Russia to deter the nation’s aggression, but Americans are paying the price at the pump, according to travel organization AAA.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) — which includes the U.S., Canada, Germany, South Korea and Mexico — announced it was releasing strategic reserves of crude oil to try and slow price increases at the pump. But the decrease in available fuel, coupled with increasing demand as the weather thaws, will continue to drive prices at the pump higher, AAA estimated.

Stocks tumbled during early trading on Monday after news of further oil price hikes were confirmed. The S&P 500 was 0.9% lower after a barrel of U.S. oil leaped as high as $130 overnight on the possibility the U.S. could bar imports from Russia. Stocks around the world slid even more sharply earlier in the day, but they trimmed their losses as oil receded back toward $117 per barrel.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to her colleagues on Sunday that “the House is currently exploring strong legislation” to further isolate Russia because of its attack on Ukraine. That could include a ban on imports of Russian oil and energy products, she said.

It’s a major step that the U.S. government has not yet taken, despite a long list of moves to punish Russia, as the White House has said it hopes to limit disruptions to oil markets. It wants to limit price jumps at the gasoline pump.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this article.