• President Biden is scrambling to lower gas prices ahead of the midterm elections, but he has few tools to do so.

• US gas prices have hit records, and the strategic petroleum release won't be able to bring them down.

• "There are very few tools the US administration has because the biggest driver for gasoline prices are driven by global fundamentals," a top analyst told Insider.

The cost of gas is surging across the US, but drivers shouldn't expect any action taken by President Joe Biden's administration to bring down prices at the pump ahead of summer driving season.

The White House is staring down a global energy crunch sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as domestic supply strains across energy commodities.

"There are very few tools the US administration has because the biggest drivers for gasoline prices are driven by global fundamentals," Matt Smith, lead oil analyst, Americas at Kpler, told Insider. "You can make decisions on domestic supply, but if it doesn't have an impact on the global picture, it won't have an impact at the pump."

Gas prices have blown past record after record in recent weeks. On Friday, the average gallon of gas in the US hit $4.599 — roughly 51% higher than a year ago, according to AAA data.

Even prior to the war in Ukraine, however, supply was tight.

"[Before February], US inventories were low compared to historical benchmarks — for crude, gas and diesel," Smith said. "Meanwhile, demand was getting back to pre-pandemic levels while supply lagged as refining activity remained subdued."

At the end of March, President Biden moved to stem rising gas prices and compensate for the loss of Russian supply by ordering the release of 1 million barrels a day over six months from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves.

About 59% of the price of gas at the pump comes from the cost of crude in global markets, but the additional release of barrels, or even increases in US production, would only add a "proverbial drop in the bucket in the 100-million-barrel-per-day global oil market," Dallas Fed economists wrote earlier this month.