NEBRASKA CITY – Motorists at the pump today may be paying the highest gasoline prices ever for a primary election day.

Prices per gallon at Nebraska City were just a fraction of a cent off of $4 per gallon, setting a new high from May averages dating back to the 1994 primaries.

The US. Energy Information Administration website says gas prices were $1 in May of 1998 and rose steadily each primary election year to a high of $3.8 in 2008.

Prices had fallen to $1.90 last May, but the average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline has jumped 15 cents over past two weeks to $4.38 per gallon.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey told the Associated Press that  the current price sits just a nickel below the highest average price in history — $4.43, set on March 11.

 The average price at the pump is $1.36 higher than it was one year ago.

Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas is in the San Francisco Bay Area, at $5.85 per gallon. The lowest average is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at $3.80 per gallon. Diesel soared 43 cents, to $5.58 a gallon.

 Graphic from AAA Nebraska website