California gas station's 'insane' prices will make your jaw drop

It is no surprise that California has the highest gasoline prices in the U.S. given that it has the highest gas taxes, but even natives of The Golden State are being blown away by the eye-popping sticker prices they are finding at the pump.

Matt Shupe of Walnut Creek, California, the principal at Praetorian Public Relations, was on a road trip through the state this week when he stumbled across gas prices that made his jaw drop. 

During a stop at a remote station in Big Sur on Sunday, Shupe decided to glance at the pump before going inside to buy snacks and was relieved that he didn't need a fill-up. The price for premium gas, which his car requires, was $9.799. He wrote on Instagram that he is "still blown away by these nearly $10 [per] gallon insane gas prices."

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"I've been going out of my way to find Costco gas stations along the route because the gas prices have been so insane," Shupe told FOX Business. He said braving the lines at Costco has saved him $10 or $20 a tank.

The average price of gas in California is currently $6.17 per gallon for premium and $5.82 for regular, according to AAA. The national average for regular is $4.16.

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Shupe has been documenting the gas prices in California on social media, flagging staggering prices and long lines.

Last month, he posted a picture on Facebook showing the price of premium gas at $6.99 per gallon in downtown Los Angeles, and a line at a Costco gas station in the city the next day that was so long employees were out coordinating traffic, when he says a gallon of premium was $5.69 at the retailer.

"I'm overlooking Brentwood in Beverly Hills right now," Shupe told FOX Business on Wednesday, while still on his road trip. "You know, these people in $10-$15 million dollar mansions as their third home aren't worried about a 50-60% increase in gas prices, but for the 38 million Californians that don't live like that – this absolutely affects them on an everyday basis. They have to cut corners and clip coupons."

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Shupe said that someone who was on the trip with him is in their 60s told him, "This is like the Carter era and it's just out of control."

Fox News' Jordan Early contributed to this report.