ST. LOUIS — $3 and $4 prices at the pump, that's a cost we all can relate to.
"Kind of ridiculous right now," Tyler Morris said.
"Get back that, even just that $2 range would be great right now," Danielle Mcnulty said.
AAA Spokesperson Nick Chabarria hates to be the bearer of bad news, but he's tracking prices across the country, and it's only going up from here.
"The U.S. gas price average at $4.06 is just five cents away from the all-time high of $4.11 set back in July of 2008," Chabarria said.
Chabarria attributed Russia's invasion of Ukraine as the biggest reason why access to crude oil is limited.
"Crude oil accounts for about 50-60% of what drivers pay at the point, and we've currently seen crude oil prices since the Russian invasion climb about $28 a barrel," Chabarria said.
Illinois and Missouri are on track to break record high prices. The state-wide average for Missouri is at $3.63 cents a gallon. Illinois' average sits at $4.30.
"Almost get excited when we come across the river because we're like yes we can get gas almost 50 cents cheaper sometimes," Mcnulty said.
AAA reported Missouri at the top of the list for the cheapest gas in the nation; one reason being the fuel tax.
"Even at around 19 cents, we still have the 6th lowest fuel tax rate in the country," Chabarria said.
The other reason being the number of pipelines available makes transporting gas easier.
"It's fairly cheap to get finished gasoline product to local gas stations here in Missouri," Chabarria said.
Even then, drivers feel at these prices, gas is burning holes in their pockets.
"Definitely only filled half a tank right now cause I don't want to see how high that price is going to get if I do a full tank," Tyler Morris said.
Missouri is still about 30 cents away from the all0time statewide record high set in July of 2008.
Illinois is only two cents away from the statewide record high of $4.32 set back in May of 2011.
Chabarria says the more east and west you go, you'll run into high prices.