Gas prices soared overnight Thursday as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran continues to roil global economic markets.
The national average for a gallon of gasoline was up 9 cents Friday to $4.39, according to motor club AAA. It’s the highest average price since summer 2022 and up 33 cents from a week ago.
Gas had tumbled to below $3 a gallon on average in December. But prices have been steadily climbing since the war with Iran began 60 days ago and led to closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the global oil supply is shipped.
California, typically home to the highest gas prices in the country, saw prices surge to $6.06 Friday, AAA data showed. The next four most expensive states were Hawaii ($5.64), Washington ($5.61), Oregon ($5.21) and Nevada ($5.15).
Even in states more used to cheap gas, prices jumped week-on-week by nearly a dollar in some places. Indiana saw an increase of $1.06 to $4.80 a gallon on average, while Ohio went up 94 cents to $4.83 and Michigan rose 88 cents to $4.86.
The Midwest was hit by refinery issues in addition to surging prices, pushing averages to 2026 highs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at price tracking site GasBuddy, posted on X Thursday afternoon.
Americans started the year paying an average of $2.82 for a gallon of gas, the lowest price the country had seen in nearly five years, according to AAA. Since then, drivers have been on a rollercoaster ride.
Oil prices surged past $100 per barrel after the U.S. attacked Iran February 28, causing gas prices to top $4 for the first time in nearly four years.
The price of oil plummeted on April 7 after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. That came hours after he posted on Truth Social that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
Gas prices responded by falling a few cents by April 16 but continued their climb as Trump and his cabinet mulled strategies for the Iran war.
Trump has offered mixed messages about gas prices to U.S. consumers since the war kicked off two months ago.
In the first week of March, the president told Reuters he wasn’t worried about fuel costs but even if gas prices rose, the war “is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”
Just over a month later, Trump told reporters that gas prices were “not very high” even as they remained above $4. On Thursday, the president said that once the war was over gas prices would “drop like a rock.”
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