MANALAPAN, NJ – As most of New Jersey has gone into the $4 or more per gallon price range for gasoline, early this morning, the Valero station on Route 33 in Manalapan was still selling regular unleaded for $3.99 per gallon. It was the last station in the county still selling for under $4. That might change by the time you read this, so check before you go.
According to GasBuddy.com, New Jersey gas prices are officially over $4 per gallon ranging in price from $4.11 at Costco in Hazlet to as much as $4.40 at some stations.
In other parts of New Jersey north and west, prices are still below $4.00 per gallon in many areas. The cheapest price reported statewide on Thursday by GasBuddy was $3.57 per gallon at the Metro III station in Avenel, reported 24 hours earlier, Wednesday afternoon.
Now, the Biden administration is blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on the spike, although prices were still more than a dollar more than last year, weeks before the invasion.
On Tuesday, President Biden signed an Executive Order to ban the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal to the United States.
In December, Biden touted an 8 cents per gallon drop in gas prices, claiming it was the result of his policies. Since then gasoline prices nationwide continued to climb. Gas in the U.S. is now nearly $1.50 above the Biden administration touted 10-year gas price average in America. Since Biden’s December announcement, gasoline prices have risen a full dollar.
“Americans have never seen gasoline prices this high, nor have we seen the pace of increases so fast and furious,” Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, said in a statement. “That combination makes this situation all the more remarkable and intense, with crippling sanctions on Russia curbing their flow of oil, leading to the massive spike in the price of all fuels: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and more.”
Earlier this week, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy acknowledged rising gas prices, also putting the blame on Vladimir Putin, telling New Jersey residents to, “Swallow hard and take it.“
“At this point with Russia given what Putin is doing in Ukraine, we’re all going to have to swallow hard and take it. This is completely unlawful,” Murphy said on the NBC Squak Box program. “This guy is a complete and utter thug. He’s a war criminal and if it means we all have to take a little bit of pain to break this guy then that’s what it’s going to take because that’s what we need to do.”
This week, Biden called on the world’s dictators to work with him on helping to alleviate the cost of gas at the pump for Americans.
“It’s shocking, actually, because we have the ability, in the United States, to completely fulfill all the Russian oil imports that are coming into the United States with domestic production,” Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum told Fox Business on Monday. “North Dakota alone, we’re operating at 400,000 barrels per day below what we were prior to the pandemic. That can easily be turned back on again.”
Biden said Americans need to “be honest” about rising fuel and energy costs.
“As we respond, my administration is using every tool at our disposal to protect American businesses and consumers from rising prices at the pump,” the president remarked at the White House on Tuesday. “As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs for us as well and here at home. We need to be honest about that.”