Bay Area Gas Prices Surge To Highest In The U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The Golden State's average price for regular gasoline crept up 11 cents on Sunday to $5.28, but Bay Area residents were forking over the most money in the nation.

Drivers in the Bay Area on Sunday were paying an average of 10 to 20 cents higher than the state average, according to data from AAA. In Napa County, stations were charging an average of $5.46 a gallon — the highest average in the region.

Just a week ago drivers in the Stockton and Lodi areas were paying $4.70, and a month ago saw prices of $4.52 a gallon.

Average prices for regular gasoline per gallon in Bay Area counties on Sunday:

$5.42, San Francisco
$5.43, Sonoma
$5.40, San Mateo
$5.45, Marin
$5.23, San Benito
$5.26, Monterey
$5.33, Santa Clara
$5.35, Alameda
$5.32, Contra Costa
$5.32, Solano

Some gas stations eclipsed the $6 mark for regular gasoline in the Bay Area over the weekend. A Shell Station in San Francisco was charging $6.31 for regular gas on Sunday, according to GasBuddy.

California motorists are paying on average 58 cents more for a gallon of regular gas than they did three weeks ago, as the statewide average price reached a national high of $5.28 Sunday in response to rising crude prices. That is $1.28 higher per gallon than the national average.

Statewide, the average price rose 10 cents on Saturday from the previous day up to $5.17. California drivers are paying about $1.23 more per gallon than the national average, according to AAA.

The Golden State's already inflated gasoline prices reached unprecedented levels this week amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has roiled energy markets and causing the global price of oil to spike.

Oil industry analysts attribute the price spike to the possibility of a supply shortage because traders, shippers, insurance companies and banks are avoiding Russian oil transactions for fear of running afoul of Western sanctions.

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.

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

Pump prices have reached record highs as the price of a barrel of Brent crude for May delivery on the Intercontinental Exchange rose Friday to its highest amount since Feb. 13, 2013, $118.11, increasing $7.65.

Its 25.49 percent increase for the week ($23.99) is the largest on record, based on available data back to Jan. 11, 1991.

Crude oil costs account for slightly more than half of the pump price, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The rest of the price includes the other components of gasoline, production costs, distribution costs, overhead costs for all involved in production, distribution and sales, taxes and carbon offset fees in California paid by the refineries.

The City News Service, Bay City News and Patch editor Paige Austin contributed to this report.