This year’s gas prices have risen steadily and Americans pay more at the pumps than they did in the past seven years.

Wednesday’s national average of $3.22 per gallon was the price of a gallon gas. according to AAAThis is at its highest level since October 2014 Consumers are sometimes paying more in some areas.

California’s average cost of property is $4.42, more than one dollar above the national average. Prices in Mono County have reached $5.

A rebound in oil is accompanied by rising gas prices. West Texas Intermediate crude futuresThe benchmark oil price in America, WTI, was traded at $77.60 per barrel on Wednesday. This is after it topped $79 the previous session, for the first time since November 2014. A barrel of WTI cost $40 a year ago.

As the global pandemic decimated economies, demand for petroleum products plunged in 2020. This forced producers to shut down the pumps. While demand for petroleum products is recovering, as more people get on the roads and more business activity increases, there has been a limited supply. The slow return of barrels by producers to the marketplace has exacerbated the imbalance between supply and demand. Hurricane Ida also impacted the Gulf of Mexico’s production.

Some believed that OPEC++, a coalition of oil-producing states would decide to raise oil production because of the rising price of crude oil. The contrary, however, was the group decided on MondayStick to an earlier agreed schedule for returning 400,000 barrels per daily to November’s market.

Rising oil prices translate into higher gasoline prices, which means that consumers are paying over $1 per gallon less than they were last year.