Average California gas prices remain near $5 per gallon despite national gas prices plummeting amid falling oil prices, leading many Californians to wonder why their gasoline is the most expensive in the United States.

CIBC Private Wealth US Senior Energy Trader Rebecca Babin joins Yahoo Finance's Market Domination to talk about the price pressures in the energy market stemming from OPEC's extended production cuts for oil (CL=F, BZ=F) and its spillover into gas prices (RB=F) ahead of the summer season.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) on Sunday agreed to extend output cuts through next year, likely keeping prices high through the November presidential election. 

The alliance said after a meeting Sunday that the move was aimed at boosting slack prices that have lulled despite the ongoing war in Gaza and attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea.

The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that it would sell off one million barrels of gasoline over the coming weeks from a strategic reserve in the Northeast, a move it said was designed to keep gasoline prices in check for consumers ahead of the July 4 holiday.

President Joe Biden's administration will sell nearly 1 million barrels of gasoline in the U.S.-managed stockpile in northeastern states as required by law, the Department of Energy said on Tuesday, effectively closing the near decade-old reserve.

The department created the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve in 2014 after Superstorm Sandy left motorists scrambling for fuel. But storing refined fuel is costlier than storing crude oil, so closing the reserve was included in U.S funding legislation signed in March by Biden, a Democrat.

The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it will sell off 1 million barrels of gasoline held in case of emergencies — with the Energy Department explicitly citing an interest in keeping gas prices low over the summer driving season ahead of the November election.

The fuel will be released from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve, a component of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that was established in 2014 after Superstorm Sandy disrupted gasoline supplies in the New York City area.

Californians pay more at the gas pump than residents of any other state in the United States despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) so-called “plan” to crack down on windfall oil profits. 

“Is Gavin Newsom trying to help Donald Trump?” Is Wall Street Journal’s Allysia Finley question, citing his plan to raise fuel prices in Nevada and Arizona just before the November presidential election.

A longstanding emissions reduction program may lead to a 50-cent increase in gasoline prices within two years in California, according to a little-known state air quality regulator report.

In September, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the state's primary environmental regulator, reported gas prices will rise next year by about 50 cents a gallon and every year thereafter to aid in clean air efforts. The price increase does not include the existing gas tax in the state.