Drivers are suddenly shelling out a lot more to fill up. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular hit $4.39 on Friday, up 33 cents in just a week—a jump seen only a few times in recent years, such as after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and shortly after the Iran war began in March, per the Wall Street Journal. The AP notes that's an 8% weekly increase. By Saturday morning, the AAA price had inched up even more, to $4.43 per gallon. On a typical day, Americans buy about 375 million gallons of gas, meaning they collectively spent close to $125 million more on Friday than they did the previous Friday.
Compared with many countries, the US is better cushioned from disruption in Persian Gulf supplies, but it's not entirely spared, with data showing domestic gasoline stockpiles that are shrinking quickly. With the Strait of Hormuz still closed and the summer driving season nearing, analysts warn that inventories could decline further, putting additional pressure on prices. The Washington Post notes that the Trump administration is running out of options to mitigate all this, adding that "the options that remain carry other economic and political risks for [President Trump]."
Some regions are feeling it more than others, per the Journal. Refinery problems have pushed prices in several Great Lakes states sharply higher. In Ohio, for example, regular gas averaged $4.83 a gallon Friday, up from $3.91 a week earlier and $2.81 before the Iran conflict. Nationally, prices remain below the June 2022 record of $5.07, but the pace of the surge is notable: Friday's average was $1.41 higher than nine weeks earlier, the fastest nine-week increase in federal records going back to at least the early 1990s. Who's bearing the brunt of the blame from voters? CNN has more on that.
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