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Average gas prices in Mass. hits $5 per gallon

The record-breaking price jumped 27 cents above the week prior.

A man pumps gas in a March 3, 2020 file photo. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

updated on June 7, 2022

The average gas price in Massachusetts jumped 27 cents over last week’s average gas price.

According to AAA’s gas price tracker, the average gas price for unleaded gas in Massachusetts Tuesday was $5 per gallon, up from last week’s average gas price of $4.73 per gallon.

This is a new record for the state, but gas prices have broken records on many occasions this spring.

The average gas price in Massachusetts this week is little more than 10 cents higher than the average gas price for the country of $4.865 per gallon.

Just a month ago, the average gas price in Massachusetts was $4.30 per gallon, more than 70 cents lower than it is today.

The cost of a barrel of oil is nearing $120, AAA said in a news release, which is nearly double from last August. AAA said this is due to the demand for oil outpacing the tight global supply.

Meanwhile, AAA said, demand for gas across the country rose last week due to Memorial Day travel. As a result, the national average for a gallon of unleaded gas surged 25 cents in one week.

“People are still fueling up, despite these high prices,” Mary Maguire, a AAA Northeast spokesperson said in the release. “At some point, drivers may change their daily driving habits or lifestyle due to these high prices, but we are not there yet.”

So far, Democrats in the Massachusetts Legislature have resisted a push from Republicans to temporarily halt the state’s 25-cent gas tax to give drivers some monetary relief at the pump.

Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance spokesman Paul Craney said Monday in a statement to State House News Service (SHNS) that “the climate lobby and their allies hold tremendous influence over Beacon Hill leadership, and for them, $5 a gallon gas is a feature of their program, not a bug in the economic system.”

“They want families to be unable to afford fuel in order to change their driving habits, and they are not particularly picky about how they make that happen.”

Later on Monday, House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka both told SHNS that their chambers are in the process of creating relief packages to help residents struggling financially in the wake of the pandemic and with the added burden of high gas prices.

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Mariano told SHNS that his team is considering some of the ideas in Gov. Charlie Baker’s roughly $700 million tax relief plan among a range of other ideas from representatives.

Spilka told SHNS that senators are discussing a relief package, and promised it would be voted on as soon as they have something concrete and before the end of July.

“We’re looking at relief for low-income, the most vulnerable populations and working families that we have. We’re looking at relief for seniors. We’re looking at relief in various forms,” Spilka said.

Spilka also pointed out that Connecticut doesn’t have a gas tax, but in the state, a gallon of gas still averages $4.89 right now.

“There is nothing that we can do to mandate that if we decrease or suspend the gas tax that it actually goes into the pockets of those at the pump, because the oil companies can keep that gas tax and not pass it on to individuals purchasing gas,” she said.

This story has been updated to show that gas prices hit $5 on Tuesday, 4 cents up from Monday.