The ongoing pain at the pump for Americans is getting even more brutal Friday — as gas prices reached a new record high.
The national average for a gallon of regular increased to $4,432, according to AAA figures.
That eclipses the previous all-time high set in mid-March when filling up tanks set drivers back an average of $4,331 per gallon nationwide.
The national average for regular gas stood at $4,418 on Thursday, the previous record high.
Friday’s new mark is roughly 15 cents more than a week ago and up from an average of $3,028 a year earlier, according to AAA data.
The cost at the pump varied widely from state to state, with the most expensive average prices in California ($5,872) and Nevada ($5,136). The cheapest gallons could be found in Georgia ($3,954) and Kansas ($3,986).
The average price of a gallon of diesel also hit a new all-time high of $5,560 on Friday. That’s an increase from $5,019 just a month ago and up from $3,150 a year ago, according to AAA data.
The new high comes a day after the Biden administration canceled oil and gas sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet, dealing with a potential blow to domestic fuel production.
The Cook Inlet lease sale will not move forward due to a “lack of industry interest in leasing in the area,” the Interior Department told The Post Thursday.
The agency also canceled two lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico while citing “conflicting court rulings” that impacted the proposed moves.
Energy experts are predicting gas prices will arise even higher, likely surpassing $4.50 by the end of May. A Houston-based industry consultant told CNN on Monday he expected a jump of another 18 to 20 cents over the next 10 days.
Another analyst, meanwhile, believes $5 gallon is “by no means beyond the realms of possibility,” USA Today reported Thursday.
“We should get used to higher gasoline prices,” Matt Smith of data analytics firm Kpler told the newspaper. “We shouldn’t expect to see them dropping back to $2 a gallon. Those times seem to have passed.”
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