Gas prices hit yet another record high today

For the third straight week, gas inventories are up, but guess what! For the eleventh straight day, gas prices in the U.S. are at a record high! Costing American drivers an extra $20 BILLION so far this year.

The jump in U.S. gasoline prices this year has so far drained consumers of an extra $20 billion, or about $146 for each passenger car in the country, the Government Accountability Office told Congress on Tuesday.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline hit a record $3.22 a gallon this week, and is up $1.05 since the beginning of February, according to the Energy Department.

As mentioned, gasoline inventory is on the rise, according a government report due out later today, and in turn, oil prices are dropping.

Oil prices fell Wednesday on expectations that a weekly U.S. government report to be released later in the day would show the third increase in domestic gasoline stocks in as many weeks.

Gasoline stocks were expected to grow by an average of 800,000 barrels, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll of analysts. Crude oil supplies were forecast to drop by 200,000 barrels, and distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, were expected to increase by an average of 900,000 barrels.

So why the hell are we continuing to see gas prices climb day, after day?

Gasoline prices hit another all time high

When I first started driving (just over five years ago), I could fill up my tank for about $15. Now? The same amount gets me about one quarter tank. Absolutely ridiculous.

A gallon of regular unleaded costs an average of $3.196, up from $3.178 on Sunday, according to AAA and Oil Price Information Service. Prices are up 33.7 cents from a month ago and 30.4 cents from a year ago, as demand remains strong, and a spate of planned and unexpected refinery shutdowns have constricted supply.

"As we start a new week, we have an insanely bullish market — which has already advanced to absurdly high levels," Cameron Hanover's Peter Beutel wrote in a research report. "We are running seven weeks behind normal this refinery turnaround season, after taking an extra seven or eight weeks in the fall to maintain refineries."

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported last week that gasoline inventories — while increasing to 195.2 million barrels for the week ended May 12 — are still well below the average for this time of year. The nation's peak driving season, meanwhile, is set to begin this long Memorial Day weekend.

I do find it quite amusing when I pull up to a gas pump and see that someone has just paid $75-$100+ to fill their car up. Good going SUV owners of America.