Gas prices creep towards $4 a gallon on average as they reach 10-month high - here's where motorists are charged most

Gas prices hit a 10-month high on Tuesday - reaching a national average of $3.86 a gallon, according to the AAA.

As usual, California had the highest  prices in the nation, with an average of $5.17, and pump prices more than $6 in its remote Mono County bordering Yosemite National Park.

By contrast, in Texas the average price for a gallon of unleaded was $3.46, up from around $3 just a month ago. They were the cheapest in Mississippi and Louisiana, at $3.32 and $3.42 respectively.

A recent hike in gas prices has been caused in part by cuts to oil supply by Russia and Saudi Arabia and hot weather in the US, which has harmed the output of many refineries.

Gas prices hit a 10-month high on Tuesday - reaching a national average of $3.86 a gallon, according to the AAA

 California had the highest prices in the nation, with an average of $5.17

In the last month, national average gas prices have climbed 28 cents, and since the Fourth of July around 32 cents.

But prices are still well down from the peak average of $5 in June 2022 - around four months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At this time last summer, the national average was $4.28 per gallon.

'We appear to be at a fork in the road when it comes to which direction gas prices will take - up or down,' said AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross.

'The summer heat that kept people home and suppressed refinery production has eased for now, so we have to look at the cost of oil to determine if the recent price climb is ending.'

Ongoing hikes to fuel prices are likely to cause inflation to rise through August, an expert told Business Insider.

An AAA spokesperson noted last month that 'the primary culprit is a higher oil price'.

The gas price high comes oil prices approach $90 a barrel and some analysts predict it could surpass that level.

In February, Goldman Sachs predicted oil could reach $100 a barrel this year thanks to production cuts by OPEC.

In California and Washington the average cost of a gallon of unleaded gas was more than $5. Pictured are various grades of gasoline displayed on a pump at a station in Copper Mountain, Colorado

In the last month, national average gas prices have climbed 28 cents and since the Fourth of July around 32 cents. Prices are still well down from the peak average of $5 in June 2022

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and major producers including Russia, together known as OPEC+, have been cutting supply since November to support prices. 

OPEC cut supply to a near two-year low in July as voluntary cuts by Saudi Arabia also came into effect. In July Russia also vowed to take 500,000 barrels a day off its exports.

Many US oil refiners have said they would run their plants at up to 95 percent of their capacity in a bid to pump out more fuels despite the heat, Reuters reported last week.

Marathon Petroleum, the largest US refiner which provides 16 percent of US refining throughput, aims to run at 94 percent of its capacity in the third quarter.

The second-largest refiner, Valero Energy, aimed to process at up to 95 percent of its capacity. The industry had been running at around 90 percent for more than a year.