Newly Released App Finds Affordable Nearby Gas Stations amidst Soaring Fuel Prices

Americans face high prices at the pump, as gasoline prices have skyrocketed to an average of $3.88 a gallon, but some states are seeing more than $6.

Fortunately, there is an app that can guide you to cheaper stations.

The Waze navigation tool uses crowdsourcing, allowing the public to share gas prices along routes.

Users select the ‘Where To’ option and a gas icon will appear showing nearby stations and how much each charges per gallon.

The Gas Station feature in Waze must first be enabled in Settings, which allows users to select their preferred type of gasoline, brand, and distance from their current location.

And then users can see nearby gas stations, distance, address, price, and the last time the price per gallon was updated.

The rise in gasoline prices was partly due to oil supply cuts by Russia and Saudi Arabia and hot weather in the US, which hurt output at many refineries.

As usual, California had the highest prices in the nation, averaging $5.17, and pump prices of more than $6 in its remote Mono County, which borders Yosemite National Park.

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

In the past month, national average gasoline prices have risen 28 cents, and since July 4, about 32 cents.

But prices are still well below the $5 average high 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.

“It looks like we’re at a fork in the road when it comes to which direction gasoline prices will go: up or down,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesman.

“The summer heat that kept people at home and suppressed refinery output has subsided for now, so we need to look at the cost of oil to see if the recent price spike is ending.”

Ongoing fuel price hikes are likely to drive inflation higher through August, an expert said Business Insider.

A AAA spokesman said last month that “the main culprit is a higher oil price.”

The high gasoline price comes with oil prices approaching $90 a barrel, and some analysts are predicting it could break above that level.

In February, Goldman Sachs predicted that oil could reach $100 a barrel this year thanks to production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).