NEW YORK: Petrol prices which have been steadily rising amid the escalating conflict in Ukraine hit a new high in the United States on Tuesday.
The average price of a gallon of regular petrol reached $4.17 (Pak Rs745.63) surpassing the previous high in July 2008, when the national average was $4.11.
Tuesday’s average represented an increase of about 72 cents from a month ago, including about 55 cents in the past week, according to a report in The New York Times.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a ban on importing Russian energy into the United States. Russia is a major producer of oil and natural gas, and Western countries had been avoiding Russia’s energy sector when imposing sanctions, conscious of the potential economic pain it could bring at home. But Biden had come under increasing pressure from Congress to cut off Russian oil.
“The decision today is not without cost here at home,” Biden said. “Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the (petrol) pump.”
Brent crude, the global benchmark for crude oil, was trading above $130 a barrel as of Tuesday morning. Western Texas Intermediate, the main US benchmark, followed closely behind at $129 a barrel.
Meanwhile, US consumers have been feeling the squeeze, even though the United States imports relatively little oil directly from Russia, the report said. In California, prices for some types of gas hovered around $6 in previous days; on Tuesday the state average was well over $5. Biden has tried to brace Americans for the sticker shock. In a February press briefing before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he said, “I will not pretend this will be painless.”
Though some analysts expect the extreme prices to be short-lived, record-high prices can have an outsized influence on how Americans perceive the US economy. And inflation, which has been rising at its fastest pace in 40 years, had been a concern for many before the Russian invasion.
