Whether it’s because of inflation, rising demand, or other factors, the price of gasoline has continued to rise throughout the spring.

According to the latest report from GasBuddy, the average gas price in the U.S. has continued to rise for the last eight weeks. The average now stands at $3.07 a gallon, which is 3.7 cents higher than a month ago, and nearly a dollar more than a year ago, when the early months of the pandemic drove gas prices to historically low levels.

Last month, the average price of gasoline rose above $3 for the first time in nearly seven years.

“We’ve seen the national average gas price continue to inch higher as oil prices have reached $71 per barrel, the highest since 2018, and as gasoline demand continues to rebound,”  Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said in a recent blog post.

“Strong gasoline demand as states and cities reopen will likely continue to be a major factor keeping gas prices elevated, even as oil production climbs in the months ahead. With most additional supply being gobbled up very quickly, gas prices will likely stay at elevated levels for the foreseeable future. Motorists can continue to fight the high gas prices by remembering to shop around each time they get below half a tank.”

Demand for gasoline rose 1.1 percent last week, as more people are returning to offices and starting to do more travel.

GasBuddy also found that the most common price for gasoline in the U.S. was $2.89 per gallon, the same as the week before, with the median price now $2.95 per gallon. The U.S. states with the lowest average gasoline prices were Louisiana ($2.68), Oklahoma ($2.70), and Mississippi ($2.71), while those with the highest were California ($4.21), Hawaii ($3.90), and Nevada ($3.65).

Opponents of the Biden Administration have sought to blame the president for the rise in gas prices, which has historically been the case during any gas price spike in the recent past. Even former President Trump issued a statement earlier this month accusing his successor of having caused the gas price spike.

However, gas prices are usually determined by factors beyond the control of the president or even the government, whether it’s weather emergencies, supply disruptions, foreign wars or oil embargoes, or other unusual effects that affect the supply or demand of oil.

The pandemic caused demand for gasoline to crash for a large chunk of 2020, so it was all but inevitable for the price to go back up again once the pandemic receded, regardless of which president happened to be in the White House at the time.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist, and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters