As the aftermath of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran persists in causing disruptions, gas prices are soaring across the United States.
Based on data, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline leaped by 14% within a week, reaching $3.41 on Saturday.
The price was below $3 just a week prior, yet the conflict has significantly disrupted oil flows through the [unspecified], driving crude oil above $90 per barrel. Natural gas prices in Europe have increased even more steeply.
The AAA stated, “The last instance when the national average had a comparable weekly increase was back in March 2022 at the onset of the Russia/Ukraine conflict.”
Gas prices might soon climb even higher. According to AAA, the last time crude oil was at that level, the average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. was $3.80.
The conflict has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway off the Iranian coast through which around 20% of the world’s crude oil and natural gas typically passes.
In the initial days of the war, Iran threatened to attack any vessel traversing through it, but a Revolutionary Guard spokesman announced on Saturday that it would remain open to all traffic except U.S. and Israeli ships.
A spokesman said, as per [unspecified], “We did not close the Strait of Hormuz and will not, but we will target ships belonging to the U.S. regime and the Zionist entity passing through the Strait of Hormuz.”
However, Reuters reported that the number of tankers passing through the strait has been zero since Wednesday.
Retaliatory Iranian missile attacks on oil and gas infrastructure in Gulf countries that host U.S. military bases, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, have also affected production and prices.
President Donald Trump made affordability a key part of his 2024 campaign for the White House, and in his State of the Union address late last month, he boasted about his Administration’s capacity to keep gas prices low.
“Gasoline, which reached a peak of over $6 a gallon in some states under my predecessor and was, to be honest, a mess, is now below $2.30 a gallon in most states, and in some places $1.99 a gallon,” [he said]. “And when I visited the great state of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I even saw $1.85 a gallon for gasoline, the lowest in four years, and dropping rapidly.”
But in an interview with Reuters this week, he dismissed concerns about rising prices.
“I’m not worried about it,” he stated. “They’ll drop very quickly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is much more important than having gasoline prices increase slightly.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TIME.
