Gas prices: Cost of regular in San Francisco breaks $6 / gallon mark

SAN FRANCISCO – As gas prices continue to rise, the average cost of regular has broken the $6 mark in San Francisco, casing drivers to rethink their budgets.

Before heading home, dog walker Andrew Demary has to fill up the 20-gallon tank on his Toyota Tacoma pickup.

With gas hitting an average price of $6.03/gallon in San Francisco – Andrew claims he is now spending $1,000 a month on gas.

The sticker shock has turned to lifestyle changes.

“I am definitely eating a lot more chicken and rice. A lot more Top Ramen. A lot less steak dinners,” Demary told KPIX 5.

Patrick DeHaan with Gas Buddy says this latest spike is due to impending European Union sanctions on Russia. The EU currently gets 4.5 million barrels of oil a day from Russia, but sanctions over the Russian War in Ukraine would force Europe to look elsewhere for oil.

“It keeps cash away from the Kremlin’s ability to spend it, but at the same time, it interrupts the delicate balance between supply and demand. Californians probably know better than anyone that if you interrupt supply and demand – whether it’s a refinery going down or intense demand – or in this case chopping global supply of via sanctions – it doesn’t end well,” DeHaan said.

While we may be used to gas prices spiking and dipping, the cost per gallon will get worse and stick around.

“It might be a two-to-three-year transitory time before we start to get back to gas prices that are more affordable,” DeHaan said.

For Demary, it means he needs more clients to make up the difference. He wants to make the change to electric, but those are out of stock.

“There’s no all electric vans or all electric trucks that aren’t back ordered for 3 to 5 years. What are we going to do? The power is completely out of our hands. I can’t make the prices come down. Gavin Newsom can’t make the prices come down. Biden can’t make the prices come down. I don’t know,” he said.

Along with the cost of gasoline, the average price of Diesel has soared in San Francisco, to more than $6.60 a gallon.