PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW) — As the war in Ukraine presses on, rising gas prices in Oregon and across the U.S. are setting records.
In Oregon, the average price for a regular gallon of gasoline hit $4.66 on Wednesday, March 9. That’s the fourth-highest average in the country, behind California, Nevada and Hawaii, according to AAA. The national average is $4.25 per gallon.
Many gas stations in the Portland metro area are already above $5 for a regular gallon. The state’s previous record of $4.29 a gallon was set in 2008.
“We have never seen anything like this before,” said Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon.
Amid the chaos in Ukraine and President Joe Biden’s decision to ban imports of Russian oil, experts believe the pain at the pump will keep getting worse.
“Usually when we see price spikes like this, they can be the result of something like a hurricane … It’s relatively easy to make guesses about when things might come back online. In this case we’re talking about a war in Europe, and there are just no answers.”
Virtually every industry in the state will be impacted by the price surge, from groceries and restaurants to air travel.
People who drive for work, like delivery and rideshare drivers, are already feeling the pain. Bloomberg reported that the rising cost of gas could eat up as much as 60% of drivers’ take-home pay, and Uber and Lyft appear hesitant to raise rates for riders.
And the impact of the devastation in Ukraine extends beyond the pump. The United Nations estimates roughly 2 million Ukrainians have left their homeland since Russian troops invaded on Feb. 24.
You can visit GasBuddy to check the cheapest gas prices in your area.
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