LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Fueling up is costing Kentuckians big time right now, and unfortunately, experts said they don't expect prices to come down anytime soon.
Right now, AAA reports consumers are paying an average of $3.22 in Kentucky per gallon of regular gasoline. That's up 25 cents from a month ago and 78 cents from a year ago.
"We think it's safe to predict that parts of our country are going to see record-breaking gasoline prices before this is all over," AAA spokesperson Lynda Lambert said.
Already, AAA reported Tuesday California broke their record of the highest average gas prices ever reported at $4.74 a gallon.
"Across the country, gas prices are continuing to rise because of the price of crude oil," Lambert said. "Crude oil accounts for more than 50% of the cost of a gallon of gas and this morning, the price of a barrel of crude oil was $93. That is significantly higher than it was just a couple of months ago."
Lambert said the Russia-Ukraine conflict is the main driver for the soaring prices at the pump.
"Russia is the third-largest oil producer in the world behind the United States and Saudi Arabia," Lambert said. "Obviously, those issues right now are playing out and we don't know what the conclusion will be and how high gasoline prices will go."
President Joe Biden addressed the nation Tuesday and said his administration is monitoring energy supplies and coordinating with oil producers to keep prices stable.
"Defending freedom will have costs for us as well and here at home," Biden said. "We need to be honest about that. But as we will do -- but as we do this, I'm going to take robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours."
AAA has a variety of suggestions on what you can do to conserve fuel.