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The U.S. West Coast is importing gasoline at a near-record pace this month to help ease supply constraints amid eye-popping pump prices just ahead of the peak summer driving season.

U.S. retail sales picked up in March, helped by a surge in gas station receipts that masked mixed results in other large spending categories as consumers contend with decades-high inflation.

Last week, for what seemed like the zillionth time, lawmakers introduced a bill to end New Jersey’s status as the only state that prohibits motorists statewide from filling their own tanks. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll found that 73% of residents prefer to have an attendant do it for them, while 22% said otherwise.

President Joe Biden announced March 8 the U.S. is banning the importation of Russian oil as a direct response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade neighboring Ukraine, resulting in significant civilian casualties.

Top administration officials met the evening of Oct. 12 to discuss rising gasoline and natural gas prices, as President Joe Biden faces intensifying pressure to keep a lid on inflation that threatens the economic recovery and Democrats’ political ambitions.

LONDON — The British government’s reserve tanker fleet was being deployed Sept. 29 to help deliver gasoline to empty pumps across the U.K., and military drivers will begin operating tankers in the coming days to ease the country’s fuel supply crisis, a top official said.

LONDON — Long lines are snaking down streets across the U.K. as drivers struggle to fill up their cars, causing widespread traffic misery and worries over whether emergency services can do their work.

U.S. gasoline consumption in the week leading up to the Independence Day holiday may have been the highest since 2019, adding to signs of recovery from the pandemic travel slump, analysts said.

Drivers eager to get back on the road more than a year into the pandemic will face the highest summer gasoline prices since 2018, according to a U.S. government report.

Five gasoline tankers that were en route to the U.S. East Coast diverted to the Port of Houston to help ease a supply crunch after last month’s freeze crippled the region’s refineries.