Gasoline price surges and peak driving season starts in US

Gasoline price kept refreshing new high in US in recent weeks. The average price of a gallon of gasoline has risen to $4.59 in the US, up about 15% from the same period last year, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). There were many reasons behind soaring gasoline price in US. Firstly, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Western sanctions aggravated the uncertainty, ending up with higher crude oil price, which laid foundation for soaring gasoline price. Secondly, the summer peak driving-season will come soon. With growing demand, price of gasoline hiked. Meanwhile, gasoline production was also under pressure from higher-margin diesel and aviation fuel. Fuel manufacturers gave priority to diesel and aviation coal production, affecting gasoline capacity, while US crude oil inventories were at historic lows. The repeated releases of oil reserves further reduced inventory and tightened the supply side. Finally, gasoline producers showed inadequate intention to expand capacity under capital pressure, not ruling out the need for gasoline companies to maintain average annual capacity growth to resist risks and the possibility of driving up gasoline prices