Grand Canyon Times

Gasoline prices across the country have continued to decline again in the last week, but Americans are still paying a premium at the pump.

The Gasoline Misery Index on gasmiseryindex.com tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer will have to spend on gasoline on an annualized basis.

As Arizona's average is reportedly $4.73 per gallon, Friday's Index for the state currently sits at $815.

Andrew Gross, spokesperson of American Automobile Association (AAA), said a combination of both lower oil prices and lower domestic demand are contributing to the drop in prices at the pump.

"Global economic headwinds are pushing oil prices lower and less expensive oil leads to lower pump prices,” Gross said in a statement. "And here at home, people are fueling up less, despite this being the height of the traditional summer driving season. These two key factors are behind the recent drop in pump prices.”

Although the decline in both crude oil prices and Americans' demand for gas have allowed for gas prices to decrease slightly in the United States over the past couple of weeks, today's national average price per gallon has been reported at $4.41 – $1.25 higher than a year ago and $2.08 higher than when President Joe Biden took office.

On Thursday, AAA reported that according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.06 million b/d to 8.52 million b/d last week. Yet, the rate is 800,000 b/d lower than last year and is in line with demand during the middle of July 2020, when COVID-19 measures curbed demand. As long as these supply/demand dynamics hold, AAA predicts drivers will continue to see a temporary relief in pump prices.

With the goal of bringing down gas prices for American consumers, Biden announced the use of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) crude oil on March 31. Data shows that since the release, the president has reduced the SPR by nearly 85 million barrels of our country's emergency oil.

Mark R. Robeck, deputy general counsel for Energy Policy in the United States Department of Energy, pointed out in a RealClear Energy article, "Beginning his first day in office, Biden has been  hamstringing fossil fuel producers. The administration canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, suspended new offshore lease sales in Alaska and the Gulf, reduced acreage available for federal leasing and imposed burdensome regulations on new energy production and infrastructure."

Robeck said Biden's 180 million barrel release from the SPR "only reduces national security, but not gasoline prices."

The Gasoline Misery Index tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer is paying for gasoline on an annualized basis. Compiled using gas price data from AAA, average fuel efficiency (mpg) data from the U.S. Department of Energy and average miles driven from MetroMile.com, the index tracks the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline and adjusts using the average miles traveled by the average miles per gallon of American cars.

According to the EIA, in January 2021, the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. When compared to Friday's national average price of $4.41, gas prices have increased 89.3%. A number that gasolinemiseryindex.com calls the Biden Misery Index, Americans are spending an average of $1,092 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office in January.