This sparks fears that inflation could accelerate again, which poses a challenge to President Joe Biden’s re-election efforts.

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U.S. gasoline prices are now at the highest seasonal level in more than a decade, even as the Labor Day holiday marked the end of the summer driving season.

According to The Spokesman Review, U.S. gasoline prices are now in the highest season level in a decade even as the Labor Day marked the end of the summer driving season. The U.S. gasoline prices for regular fuel is standing at $3.811 a gallon, topping this time last year, and marking the second highest level in the records going back to 1994 from the American Automobile Association (AAA).

According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $5.09 in Washington and $3.77 in Spokane, on Wednesday. The U.S. gasoline prices move comes in a period when prices typically decline going into fall and is a U-turn after quite a cheap summer for drivers. Relief at the pump is complicated by a resurgence in the costs of oil, with Brent futures topping $90 a barrel on Tuesday after Russia and Saudi Arabia extended production cuts that have already tughtened the global supply.

The expensive U.S. gasoline prices poses a risk to President Joe Biden as it is one of the most visible signs of inflation. Biden is “doing everything in his toolkit” to be able to get lower U.S. gasoline prices for consumers at the gas pumps, said National Security Advisor Jake Sullvan. He also added that the U.S. gasoline prices are an “ultimate metric” for success.

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Last year, in the wake of Ukraine and Russia war, the Biden administration resorted to selling unprecedent amount of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when record U.S. gasoline prices helped push inflation to a 40 year high.

According to Oil Price, the U.S. gasoline prices have declined slightly from their recent year to date high but remain at its highest summertime levels in over a decade. Strong demand and a series of refinery outages are largely the reason for the recent U.S. gasoline prices rise, while tightening markets have been pushing crude prices up.

Crude prices have also pulled back slightly after hitting its highest since November after OPEC+ heavyweights Russia and Saudi Arabia announced their extension of respective production cuts. In July, Russia announced voluntary cut of 300,000 barrels a day. While Saudi Arabia cut 1M barrels a day, their cuts make up more than a 3rd of the total cuts made by OPEC+ since last year.

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