'Out Of Control': CA Gas Prices Reach Unprecedented Levels

LOS ANGELES, CA — The average price for a gallon of regular gas in California soared to $5.07 Friday, making California the first state ever to top the $5 mark, according to AAA.

Golden State gasoline prices reached unprecedented levels due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has roiled energy markets and causing the global price of oil to spike.

Golden State drivers are paying about $1.23 more per gallon than the national average, according to AAA.

The increases marked the largest price hikes since Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, devastating the nation's oil and gas industry, according to CNN. Analysts predicted more pain at the pump in days to come.

"This is not the end of it. We're already up another 14 cents on wholesale gas prices this morning," Tom Kloza, a global petroleum analyst, told CNN Friday. "It's absolutely out of control.”

The record-high gas costs were even more jarring considering how fast they climbed. The national average a year ago was just $2.75 per gallon because pandemic shutdowns caused demand to plummet, according to AAA.

Locally, gas prices were up more than $1 from this time last year, according to GasBuddy.com.

The effect on the average household was likely to be huge. The average household uses about 90 gallons of gas a month, Kloza told ABC News. That means the increase over the last year would cost the average household about $1,200 a year.

Within the Golden State, gas prices varied dramatically. One Mobil station in Los Angeles County’s Beverly Grove charged $6.45 for a gallon of regular on Thursday, CBS7 reported.

The highest average prices statewide Friday were in Humboldt ($5.30 a gallon) and Del Norte ($5.26 a gallon) counties.

California Regions With The Highest Average Price For Regular Gas

• Humboldt $5.30.
• Del Norte $5.26.
• San Rafael $5.25.
• San Luis Obispo $5.24.
• Napa $5.24.
• Santa Rosa $5.22.
• San Francisco $5.20.
• Los Angeles-Long Beach $5.15.
• Orange $5.14.
• Ventura $5.13.
• Oakland $5.13.
• Vallejo-Fairfield $5.11.

California Regions With The Lowest Average Price For Regular Gas

• Yuba $483.
• Modesto $4.83.
• Hanford-Corcoran $4.85.
• Chico-Paradise $4.87.
• Fresno $4.89.
• Madera-Chowchilla $4.89.
• Visalia-Tulare-Porterville $4.90.
• Bakersfield $4.94.
• Redding $4.95.
• Merced $4.96.
• Yolo $4.97.