Gas prices in New Jersey hit all-time high of over $5 per gallon

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Gas prices in New Jersey hit all-time high

Gas is now more than $5 per gallon on New Jersey's two main highways, as the pain at the pump continues across the nation.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Gas prices in New Jersey have hit an all-time high of over $5 per gallon.

For the first time in state history, the gas price is $5.02.

In New York, it's inching closer to $5 at $4.94.

It's just one cent lower in Connecticut at $4.93 per gallon.

The entire Tri-State area is now above the national average of $4.91.

Analysts say the pent-up urge to travel has so far outweighed the skyrocketing prices at the pump for many consumers, but two-thirds of drivers recently surveyed said they would change their driving habits if gas hit $4.50 a gallon. Three-quarters said they would do so if it topped $5 a gallon.

Soaring gas prices across the country are out of the White House's hands, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday as he rebuked oil company executives for not upping production.

"I don't think it's correct to say it hasn't made any difference at all," Buttigieg said about Biden's decision earlier this year to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. "This is an action that helped to stabilize global oil prices...We know that the price of gasoline is not set by a dial in the Oval Office."

Buttigieg said President Joe Biden has called for policy to induce oil executives to increase production

"When an oil company is deciding, hour by hour, how much to charge you for a gallon of gas, they're not calling the administration to ask what they should do," he said. "They're doing it based on their goal on maximizing their profits."