Gas prices are at a 7-year high, with one California town reaching a whopping $7.59 per gallon

• Gas prices in a small California town hit $7.59 per gallon of regular unleaded this week.
• That's nearly double the national average, which is at a seven-year high.

This week at your average American gas station, you're likely to find prices in the $3.50 range for one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

But if you're in rural California along the Big Sur coastline, you could pay more than double that price.

In Gorda, for instance, one gas station is charging a whopping $7.59 per gallon of regular unleaded, and premium is just shy of $8.50 per gallon, local ABC affiliate KFSN reported on Thursday.

Even if you're filling up a car with a relatively small tank, at $7.59 per gallon, you're looking at over $75 for just 10 gallons.

It's not just you: Gasoline prices are at a seven-year high, according to federal data. Though there are some clear reasons for this that are particular to this moment in time, such as the ongoing effects of the global pandemic, gas prices are the result of a variety of complex factors.

The cartel of oil exporters that control the oil market, for instance, has a huge amount of influence over the price of gasoline. That group, which includes OPEC and other oil-producing nations, recently reconfirmed plans to gradually increase oil production despite pressure from the United States and India.

Unfortunately, the upward trend in gasoline prices is expected to continue, according to AAA.

"With oil prices remaining elevated, pump prices will follow suit because the cost of crude oil accounts for more than half of the price of each gallon of gas," a blog post from the American Automobile Association said. Oil demand, the post said, is only expected to increase as winter approaches, and that could put more pressure on supply in the coming months.

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