Paying a little over $4 per gallon of gas could be a fond memory if the Russia-Ukraine war doesn’t end soon, according to one strategist. In fact, the national average cost of gas could potentially hit $5 per gallon by the peak driving season.

“If the situation in Russia/Ukraine remains like this, oil prices are going to remain probably (at) $100 plus,” Prosper Trading Academy CEO Scott Bauer told Yahoo Finance earlier this week.

“We’re coming up to the busiest demand—the peak—coming up to summer time. If the tensions stay like this, I think you're going to see $5 a gallon easily in peak demand by Memorial Day,” he continued.

Pain at the Pump in California

According to AAA data, the current average cost of gasoline is $4.24—about $1.35 higher compared to a year ago—but states like California have already seen prices that eclipse $6 per gallon. Los Angeles County was hit hard and recently saw continuous daily gas price increases for more than a month.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said that it didn’t take long for Los Angeles to reach such high gas price levels.

“In less than three weeks, the average price of gasoline in Los Angeles has surged by an average of $1 per gallon, blowing past $5 and now reaching $6 per gallon on refinery issues and Russia’s war on Ukraine,” he explained in a press release.

“While I’m hopeful we won’t go much beyond this, there’s not much light at the end of the tunnel for now,” he continued.

White House Searching for Answers

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been exploring ways to lower gas costs to ease the burden on consumers, with some ideas pointing to suspending federal gas taxes and tapping into the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

“The prices that people notice the most are often energy and food,” Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, told CBS News.

“You fill up every week, and you go to the grocery store every week and there are inflationary pressures there still,” he continued.

The administration had previously considered sending out prepaid gas cards to American families. The White House, though, eventually decided that the plan was not feasible. According to CNN Business, the administration was “worried that gas cards won’t work because of execution issues and fraud concerns. In the past, cards have been stolen from mailboxes.”

Still, there are some states working to find ways to offer financial relief to their residents. The most notable effort is being orchestrated by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has pitched a $400 tax refund in the form of a debit card that would be sent to every vehicle owner in the state.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.