The Biden-era oil market is starting strong with skyrocketing prices as COVID-weary Americans return to the roads.

Since the November election, the U.S. oil prices have skyrocketed 69% based on the closing price on Feb. 25 at $63.50. The price increase is rallying faster and steeper than expected as demand outstrips supply increases from OPEC+, Iran, and U.S. shale.

In terms of the presidential cycle correlation, this is the biggest post-election gain through this point in the presidential cycle since NYMEX oil futures began trading in 1983. The second-largest post-election rally happened when crude oil jumped 31% after President George H.W. Bush’s victory in 1988.

The re-opening of the global economy as more people become vaccinated is helping demand for oil return to pre-pandemic levels. Inventory for oil is remaining tight, causing West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. standard, to reach $67.50 per barrel in the second quarter. Over the last three weeks, inventories for oil have fallen by 40 million barrels, in part due to cold weather demand for heating fuels offsetting a rise in gasoline and crude stockpiles.

“Higher oil prices are a reflection of optimism about economic growth as the world begins the process of vaccinations to move past the pandemic,” said Jason Bordoff, founding director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

The future curve for oil continues to indicate tightness in the market. The market is in a backwardation of almost $6 a barrel for the next 12 months, a structure that indicates the scarcity of oil. There have even been tentative mentions of crude oil hitting $100 a barrel again in the long term. However, Goldman Sachs is projecting a more modest but still high price of  $72 in the next three months.

On the international level, prices are expected to be even higher as Goldman Sachs expects Brent crude oil, the international standard, to hit $75 this summer, far outpacing the previously projected $65.

“This year remains driven by fundamentals, with better than expected demand and still depressed supply once again creating a larger deficit than even we expected,” wrote Damien Courvalin, head of energy research at Goldman Sachs.

The cold front in Texas impacted both oil demand and shale explorers’ ability to extract it. Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Pioneer Natural Resources Co., two of the largest producers in the Permian Basin located in the southwestern part of America, alone had a combined loss of about 3.8 million barrels of oil, according to Bloomberg News calculations based on fourth-quarter earnings reports and calls.

The raw price for oil is not the only thing on the rise, as gasoline prices in the U.S. are beginning to tick up. According to AAA, since the election, the price for gasoline has risen 27%, with the national average hitting $2.70 a gallon this week.