Gas Prices Shoot Up Across US, With NY Hurting More Than Most

NEW YORK CITY — Gas prices are rocketing nationwide, with New York being hit at the pump harder than most states.

Average gas prices, on the week and the month, have increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, latest figures from the AAA show. The national average, at $2.72-per-gallon, is a 30-cent increase from a month ago and 28 cents more than this time last year, according to the AAA report. It’s the most expensive daily average since August 2019.

In New York, the state's average is $2.81. It's even higher in the city. The website GasBuddy showed the cheapest gas being sold in Manhattan on Friday was $2.73, a cash-only price offered at a BP station on Broadway in Hudson Heights. Prices could be found much higher elsewhere in the city.

Though New York's prices are higher than the national average, they're still much lower than in California, which averaged $3.68 per gallon last Monday. Hawaii, Washington and Nevada are now above a $3-per-gallon.

Part of the reason for the gas price increase is the winter storm that crippled Texas and much of the American South in February. Twenty-six U.S. refineries were pushed offline, as refinery utilization went from the average 83 percent to 68 percent, AAA reported, citing information from the Energy Information Administration.

“Barring hurricane season, March may bring the most expensive pump prices of 2021,” said Jeanette Casselano McGee, a AAA spokesperson. “While the month is roaring in like a lion, by the end of it we could see some relief at the pump as refineries resume normal operations.”

But it’s not likely to come right away.

The average national gas price could hit $2.80 by the end of March, a AAA projection shows. That could mean an increase of 5 to 10 cents per gallon locally.