The price of gas has increased nationwide since the start of the Iran war as drivers bear the brunt of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s move to choke off the Strait of Hormuz.
As major oil companies have become wary of the financial risks associated with transiting the crucial oil shipping waterway while the Islamic regime is at war with the United States and Israel, the chokehold on the narrow strait has financially affected energy markets, as well as prices at the pump. The average price of a regular tank was $3.72 per gallon on Monday, per the Energy Information Administration’s latest assessment.
About 18 states have seen the average price of a regular tank of gas increase by over $1 per gallon in the past month, according to data compiled by AAA and reviewed by the Washington Examiner on March 20. Since late February, before the start of Operation Epic Fury, six states have seen their gas prices increase by over $1.10 per gallon: Arizona, Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico, Indiana, and Kentucky.
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In New Mexico, the average price of regular gas is currently about $3.84 per gallon, according to the same AAA data reviewed by the Washington Examiner on March 20. The price of gas one month ago in the state was recorded at $2.58, per AAA, marking a $1.26 increase per gallon since the war with Iran began.
In Arizona, the average price for a regular gallon of gas is about $4.46 compared to $3.21 one month ago. This $1.25 price increase at the pump marks the second-largest price swing in the one-month period.
In Colorado, the price of regular gas has increased by $1.22 per gallon in the one-month span. One month from March 20, AAA recorded gas at $2.70 per gallon. Now the price sits at about $3.92 per gallon.
Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky have recorded price increases of between $1.10-$1.15 per gallon, according to the AAA data reviewed by the Washington Examiner. Illinois swung from $2.97 per regular gallon one month ago to about $4.117 per regular gallon. Indiana increased from $2.73 to $3.83. Kentucky increased from $2.60 in February to $3.73 on March 20.
Though each of these states experienced an over $1.10 swing this March, their averages are less than what they were in the summer 2022 spike. In Kentucky, for example, where the current price of gas is about $3.73, in June 2022, the price per regular gallon was $4.80. The 2022 spike was largely due to general inflation and market uncertainty coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the EIA.
In nine states plus Washington, D.C., the average price of a regular tank of gas sits at over $4 per regular gallon, according to the AAA data. The highest prices are in California, Washington, and Hawaii, where gas prices are often high, and now sit at $5.66, $5.22, and $5.13 per gallon, respectively. However, this is still less than the price of regular gas in each state in the summer of 2022, when California averaged $6.44 per regular gallon in June of that year.
Several state legislatures, including those in Georgia and Florida, have floated the idea of temporarily suspending the state gas tax during the current price increase.
Trump administration officials have said that they foresaw the temporary increase in gas prices but are expecting things to settle soon.
“Americans will feel it for a few more weeks, but at the end, we will have removed the greatest risk to global energy supplies,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday.
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Vice President JD Vance reassured a crowd in Michigan about gas prices this week, saying, “It’s not going to last forever.”
“Look, gas prices are up, and we know they’re up, and we know that people are hurting because of it, and we’re doing everything that we can to ensure that they stay lower,” Vance said. “I will say the president said this, and I certainly agree with it. This is a temporary blip.”
