Talk about a real pain in the pump.
The nation’s gas gauge just got a reality check, with prices soaring from coast to coast and one unlucky state topping $5 per gallon, a new report showed.
Buckle up, motorists, because just four states are currently keeping it under $3 — and who knows for how long?
As the war in Iran sends oil prices skyrocketing, the national average for a gallon of regular has jumped an astonishing 16% in just one week to hit $3.48, according to a new analysis from GoBankingRates.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright called for calm — saying prices currently remain $1.50 cheaper on average than at their Biden-era peak.
Wright said the recent spike is likely to be a weeks-long, not months-long, phenomenon.
“We want it [gas prices] back below $3 a gallon,” the agency head told CNN. “And it will be again before too long.”
But for drivers already feeling the sting, optimism doesn’t make the sticker shock any easier.
California faces the worst increases, with already-stressed drivers shelling out a wallet-draining $5.20 per gallon — more than a dollar above second-place Washington ($4.63) and Hawaii ($4.52).
Golden Staters already know the price can go much higher — there, the average soared to an unbelievable $6.49 per gallon back in October 2022, according to AAA.
In expensive cities like Oakland and San Francisco, prices have surged past $5.60.
A 12-gallon fill-up? That’s $62.45 out of your pocket before you even think about hitting the road.
Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog says it’s not just global crude prices that are driving us crazy.
Taxes, environmental regulations and refinery constraints are all part of the sticker-shock stew.
The group has called for fixes like enforcing steady fuel supply, requiring refiners to maintain minimum inventories, and reinstating price-gouging penalties.
Midwest drivers are faring slightly better, at least for the moment.
Kansas currently boasts the nation’s cheapest gas at $2.92, followed by Oklahoma ($2.97), Missouri ($2.99) and Arkansas ($2.99). These four states are now the last holdouts under the $3 mark, according to the report.
Northeast drivers are somewhere in the middle of the madness. In New York, the average price is $3.40 per gallon, while New Jersey sits at $3.34 and Connecticut at $3.37.
That’s $40–$41 to fill up a 12-gallon tank.
Indiana saw the nation’s largest percentage jump in one week, up 24.2% to $3.48 a gallon.
Ohio (+23.6%), Florida (+21.2%), Iowa (+20.6%) and Oklahoma (+20.8%) aren’t far behind.
Florida drivers have felt the change most keenly, with the Sunshine State seeing a 61-cent jump in a week, the report stated.
The rapid climb is being pinned on the current strife in the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil flows each year. The conflict has temporarily disrupted shipping lanes — though Wright said he expected tanker traffic to resume soon.
Rising prices are already affecting behavior on the ground. Some California drivers are ditching their cars for public transit, while others are hunting deals on apps like GasBuddy.
“Gas right now is literally your arm and my leg,” commuter Amber Arias of Sacramento complained. “It’s a back and forth, so yeah, it’s crazy.”
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