Melissa Koenig writes for DailyMail.com about the latest bad news involving gas prices.

Gas prices spiked to nearly $7 a gallon at at least one Los Angeles station on Sunday – as the national average topped $4 for the first time since the 2008 fiscal crisis.

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in Los Angeles County was $5.288 on Sunday, according to AAA, while a gallon of diesel cost $5.598. That is up 9.7 percent from just last week and 13 percent over last month.

And when compared to the same time last year, the average gasoline price on Sunday was 57.5 percent higher.

But the difference was even more stark at the Shell station at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, which was advertising regular unleaded gas for $6.99 a gallon. The price for premium at the station was $7.29, ABC 7 reported.

Meanwhile, the national average for a gallon of gas hit $4.009 on Sunday, according to AAA, which is the highest since July 2008.

Experts blame the war in Ukraine, coupled with rising inflation at home of 7.5 percent for the sky-high gas prices in nearly one-third of the country, with costs surging by 37 cents nationally since Russia invaded Ukraine. 

In California, drivers also suffer from high state taxes, as well as stricter refining rules that require specific fuel formulae intended to reduce air pollution in the hot summer months. 

Only two people stopped at the Shell station at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue Sunday morning, according to ABC 7, with many trying to find cheaper gas in the area.

But that proved to be difficult, with one woman, Joana Esparza, saying she was shocked when her husband told her the gas at another station was $6 a gallon.