Gas prices have skyrocketed in Northeast Ohio this week with the average prices in the area 10 cents above last week's average.

This week, the average price for gasoline in Northeast Ohio is $3.344. 10 cents higher than last week's average of $3.241. The average gas price during this week in 2021 was $2.660.

The potential invasion of Ukraine by Russia is having a rippling effect on the oil market impacting the price of gasoline in the U.S. A Russian attack would be met by severe financial sanctions led by the U.S. and its allies.

Russia could retaliate by withholding oil from the world market, which is already dealing with tight supplies as countries loosen COVID-19 restrictions. Russia is one of the leading oil producers globally, only behind the United States and Saudi Arabia.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.3 million barrels to 247.1 million barrels last week.

On the other hand, gasoline demand fell from 9.13 million barrels per day to 8.57 million barrels per day. Typically, a decrease in demand during the winter would put downward pressure on gas prices but elevated crude prices continue to push pump prices higher.