It's not even the holiday season yet and gas prices in New Jersey are absolutely outrageous.

We can all agree that 2021's gas prices are the highest they've been in years. According to the AAA gas price analyzing tool, New Jersey is currently sitting at around $3.42 for a gallon of regular gas while premium is almost up to $4. To be completely accurate, the average cost of a gallon of premium gasoline in the Garden State is currently $3.93.

Cat Country 107.3 logo
Get our free mobile app

Apparently, New Jersey residents on-average are paying about $17 more dollars to fill their tanks this year compared to last. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like residents will see any relief anytime soon either. So much for that lowered gas tax in early October 2021, right?

So, what exactly is to blame for these staggering gas prices? Quite frankly, it's a simple issue of supply-and-demand. The bottom line is that the various supplies of oil just aren't there. They're not what they once were and therefore can't keep up with the demand. Since the price of crude oil in and of itself has increased, there's really no way around how it's impacting our pockets.

App.com reports that investors who once had no problem putting their money into oil investments are not only now hesitant, but also have people advocating for climate change in their ear. So, the money once getting dumped into the industry just isn't there as countries (including the United States) set new fossil fuel limits which obviously significantly limit the possible return on investment.

The experts say New Jersey may finally see prices let up towards the end of the year, however there is a chance residents won't see gas prices drop until early 2022.

Gas prices have SOARED over the years. See how much it cost the year you started driving:

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

9 reasons it’s stupid we don’t have self-serve gas in NJ

10 Places To Get The Cheapest Gas In Ocean County, NJ

The Future Of Gas Prices For New Jersey Drivers Is BLEAK! Here's What We Know:

Gas. Prices. Stink.

More From Cat Country 107.3