A gallon of regular gasoline cost 43 cents more across the United States in a single week. The national average reached $3.54, according to AAA Oregon/Idaho, and drivers in all 50 states paid more.
The cause was crude oil, which jumped after the United States and Israel struck Iran and tanker traffic stalled in the Strait of Hormuz. Seasonal pressure on pump prices added to it. The national average stood at its highest since July 2024.
The pump, state by state
California led again. Its average of $5.29 was the highest in the country for a fifth straight week, and its 62-cent weekly jump was the largest anywhere. Washington followed at $4.69, then Hawaii at $4.59, Nevada at $4.30 and Oregon at $4.26. California is the only state at or above $5. Kansas, at $2.96, is the only one with an average in the $2 range, and Oklahoma is next cheapest at $3.01.
Oregon’s 31-cent weekly rise ranked only 42nd-largest, among the smaller increases nationwide. Hawaii’s 19 cents was the smallest. Over the month, the national average climbed 62 cents, with Arizona’s 83 cents the biggest jump. Against a year ago, it is up 45 cents.
The weekly rise is not as steep as March 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, when the national average shot up 60 cents.
Why crude matters
West Texas Intermediate touched near four-year highs around $95 a barrel on Monday. It closed Friday at $90.90 and Monday at $94.77. By the day of AAA’s report it had slid back to about $83, after President Trump signalled the war may end soon and the International Energy Agency weighed releasing stockpiles. A week earlier crude was $75, and a year earlier $66.
About 20% of the world’s oil and refined products pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. does not rely on Iranian oil, AAA noted, but China and India do. As a rule of thumb, every $1 added to a barrel of crude lifts gasoline by 2.4 to 2.5 cents.
“It’s impossible to predict how high prices might go,” said Marie Dodds, public affairs director for AAA Oregon/Idaho. She expects elevated oil and gas prices “as long as the conflict in Iran continues and tankers are stalled in the Strait of Hormuz.”
OPEC+ said at its March 1 meeting that it would raise output by 206,000 barrels a day in April, which could soften the blow. U.S. crude production is at 13.70 million barrels per day, and the country has been the top producer since 2018. Crude inventories rose 3.5 million barrels to 439.3 million, about 3% below the five-year average.
