Average national gas prices are now more than $4 per gallon, according to AAA data. This comes after weeks of steady increases following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.
Conflict between the U.S. and Iran in the region has continued, and the Strait of Hormuz – a key transportation route for oil – remains blocked. Though the U.S. announced in mid-March that 172 million barrels of oil would be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fuel prices have continued to increase in the U.S.
They are higher than a year ago, when average prices per gallon nationally was around $3.20. A month ago, average national prices were under $3, but they were up to $3.977 a week ago and yesterday they creeped up to $3.990, foreshadowing the increase beyond $4.
Prices for gas in the U.S. haven’t been this high since 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, CBS News noted. According to the outlet, President Donald Trump and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt both said prices will come down once the conflict in Iran is over.
When might that be? As of Tuesday, things weren’t quite clear. CNN reported that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth aims for U.S. military actions to be “unpredictable” in the war, and there has been speculation of U.S. boots on the ground, with U.S. Central Command saying the USS Tripoli, believed to be carrying Marines, is in the Indian Ocean.
Meanwhile, airstrikes continue. Per CNN, a desalination plant on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Starait of Hormuz was taken out of service in an airstrike and a Kuwaiti tanker was recently attacked by Iran off Dubai waters.
In a Monday Truth Social post, Trump said that the U.S. was in “serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran,” and that “great progress has been made.” He added that, if a deal is not reached and the Hormuz is not opened, that the U.S. “will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched.’”
Those actions would be “in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s,” the president said. He also took to Truth Social Tuesday to criticize countries that have not joined the U.S. in the conflict.
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” said Trump. “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!”
Trump also singled out France for not allowing Israeli planes to fly over French territory.
“France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated! The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!” he said.
Gallup polling conducted from March 2 through March 18 showed that Americans weren’t yet too concerned about rising gas prices, though experts warned that the elevated fuel prices could cause other costs to go up. That polling found that Democrats were “more concerned about energy than Republicans are, reflecting the growing influence of partisanship on attitudes about the issue.”
After gas prices climbed over $4 Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee said in a statement that the recent increase is the “largest monthly jump ever recorded,” and that that prices could be pushed towards $7 per gallon if oil hits $200 per barrel prices like some experts expect. Average prices are already over $5 in California.
Audacy station WCCO News Talk in the Twin Cities reported that the rising prices have come with “anger,” even in places where prices are still edging towards $4.
