Gas prices hold steady in Phoenix, but are 26 cents higher than last month

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- There are no signs that the pain at the pump will be over anytime soon as gas prices continue near record-highs across the country.

GasBuddy reports that the average price across Phoenix was $4.88 per gallon. It’s unchanged from last week, but the cost is still 26 cents higher than one month ago and $1.72 per gallon higher than last year.

See the cheapest gas near you with the AZFamily gas price tracker

Summer travel, including the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, is expected to help keep the prices relatively high. As a result, analysts with GasBuddy predict that prices across the country could climb very quickly.

“Prices later this week could be closer to $5 per gallon than $4 [nationwide] as demand continues to edge higher and inventories of both gasoline and diesel continue to decline, temperatures warm and motorists get back outside and we near the Memorial Day weekend, the start of the summer driving season,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “While the increases may start to slow in the days ahead as pump prices catch up to oil, there isn’t much reason to be optimistic that we’ll see a plunge any time soon.”

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden ordered the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve for six months to help spiking energy prices. Soon afterward, crude oil prices dropped about 6% to $101 a barrel. Prices have since gone back up to about $110, according to OilPrice.com’s data released Monday morning.