San Francisco Bay Area gas prices among nation's highest

The San Francisco Bay Area saw some of the country's highest average gas prices, at $4.76 per gallon in February, per GasBuddy data.

What's happening: While that cost is down 3% year over year, it's up 5% from January.

• Of note: Taxes, regulations and snags with local refining operations can sometimes lead to higher prices across California.

Zoom out: Nationally, gas cost about $3.40 a gallon in February — down 6% year over year, but up 2% from January.

Why it matters: More than three-quarters of Americans commute to and from work, meaning they're particularly sensitive to the ebbs and flows of prices at the pump — especially as other basic goods also get more expensive.

• Gas prices are also a political football, rightfully so or not.
• When they're high, many Americans tend to blame whoever's sitting in the Oval Office — even though, as Axios' Andrew Freedman has reported, they lack significant control over the cost of commodities priced on global markets, oil included.

Driving the news: Oil prices spiked last year amid uncertainty over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the economic sanctions against Russia — a major oil producer — that followed.

• While the fighting drags on, oil markets have largely stabilized, as CNN reports.

Reality check: As Axios' Joann Muller recently found, charging up an EV isn't always significantly cheaper than filling a tank with gasoline — especially on road trips.