Gas is up 27 cents since Sunday – here’s where it’s even worse

(NEXSTAR) – Americans are paying, on average, 27 cents more for a gallon of gas since Sunday, data from AAA shows. That increase was partially fueled by a 10-cent jump that happened overnight Monday into Tuesday, the largest single-day rise since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

In some states, the price hike has been even more dramatic.

As of Thursday, AAA reports the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is at $3.25, up roughly 36 cents from a month ago, but only 15 cents more than the same time last year.

Diesel prices are even worse off. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said the company’s data found an average price of $4.12 per gallon in the U.S., the highest since December 2023.

Part of the price hike is attributed to the impact of the conflict in Iran, which caused crude futures to spike earlier this week. Oil prices are still climbing, with a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, up 3.8% to $84.52 on Thursday. That’s up from close to $70 late last week.

It’s worth noting that gas prices were climbing before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Refiners have been switching over to the more-expensive summer blends of fuel.

These factors have all combined to push gas prices up by 15 cents – or more – since Tuesday in 23 states, a Nexstar analysis of AAA data found. In Kentucky and Arkansas, the average price for a gallon of regular gas is up 21 and 20 cents, respectively, the largest increases in the nation.

Since Sunday, gas prices have risen by at least 30 cents in 17 states. Data from AAA shows the statewide average for a gallon of regular gas has increased the most this week in:

Georgia, up 39 cents to $3.174

Indiana, up 38 cents to $3.188

Florida, up 35 cents to $3.241

Iowa, up 35 cents to $2.986

Ohio, up 35 cents $3.127

The interactive map below shows how much the average price of a gallon of gas has increased since Sunday and over the last seven days, per AAA data.

On Sunday, 39 states had an average cost below $3. As of Thursday, only 17 states have yet to cross the $3 mark. Montana isn’t far off, at $2.996, with Iowa, Utah, and Wisconsin close behind.

While you may be paying more at the gas pump, De Haan says it isn’t all on the station.

“Gas stations aren’t the villains during price spikes. They’re middlemen,” he wrote in a post to X on Thursday. “When wholesale prices surge, their costs jump immediately and margins often shrink while they try to keep up with higher replacement costs.”

How does conflict in Iran impact gas prices?

The Iran war has effectively halted oil tanker movement in the key Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes. Tankers traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran. Most of that oil goes to Asia.

While there are pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that can avoid the passage, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says “most volumes that transit the strait have no alternative means of exiting the region.”

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump pitched a plan aimed at getting oil and trade moving again through the Strait.

Trump said on social media he ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. to provide political risk insurance for tankers carrying oil and other goods through the Persian Gulf “at a very reasonable price.”

Political risk insurance is a type of coverage intended to protect firms against financial losses caused by unstable political conditions, government actions, or violence. Marine insurers had been canceling or raising rates for insurance in the region.

He said that, if necessary, the U.S. Navy would escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. The Navy has at least eight destroyers and three, smaller, littoral combat ships in the region. These ships have previously been used to escort merchant shipping in the region and in the Red Sea.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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