Gas prices level off despite conflict in Ukraine

Metro area average still 27 cents higher than a month ago.

The average price of gasoline in metro Atlanta had leveled off by midday Monday, still 27 cents a gallon above its price a month ago.

For weeks, prices at the pump have paralleled the trajectory of world oil prices, spurred by fear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would lead to cuts in the flow of crude onto world markets. But the oil has kept flowing despite the ongoing war, and prices, at least for now, have stopped climbing.

The average price of gas in metro Atlanta on Monday was $3.49 a gallon, according to Gas Buddy.

A week ago, it was $3.33 a gallon. A month ago, it was $3.22.

Russian oil accounts for 11% of the world’s production. The attack on Ukraine has sparked dramatic moves to sanction Russian banking and trade by Western nations critical of the war.

But there has been little appetite in the West to apply a chokehold to Russian oil exports, which might deprive Russia of badly needed currency but also would burden Western economies.

Crude oil, which crested above $100 a barrel Thursday for the first time since 2014, fell Friday morning and has been trading since then in the mid-$90 range.

The United States is the world’s largest oil producer but still imports about onethird of its oil, according to the Energy Information Administration. Russian oil accounts for about 7% of those imports.

The price Americans pay is largely set by global markets. Worldwide shortfalls in supply — or worries about one — move everyone’s prices higher.

Nationally, the average price of gas on Monday was $3.61 a gallon, according to AAA. In Georgia, gas prices averaged $3.50 a gallon. According to AAA, here’s how Georgia’s pump average compares with neighboring states:

■ Alabama, $3.36

■ Tennessee, $3.44

■ South Carolina, $3.48

■ Florida, $3.52

■ North Carolina, $3.55 The recent hikes came on top of a year’s worth of increases as driver demand outpaced the industry’s efforts to ramp up supplies. Moreover, it adds to the seasonal bump. Gas prices typically rise toward the end of winter and all through the spring, peaking around Memorial Day.