Average US gas price up $1 from February amid Iran war

Locally, many SCV stations’ prices in $5.70 to $6 range

By Naveen Athrappully 
Contributing Writer 

The national average price of regular gasoline is up 10 cents from last week, and one dollar since last month, amid high oil prices following the Iran conflict, according to a Thursday report from AAA Fuel Prices (American Automobile Association). 

As of Thursday, the national average price was $3.981, up from $2.983 on Feb. 26, an increase of about 33%. A year back, the price was $3.150. 

As of Friday, the average price in California was $5.84 per gallon, according to AAA Fuel Prices. Prices for regular unleaded in the Santa Clarita Valley on Friday could be seen ranging from about $5.70 to $6 per gallon. 

“The national average could reach $4/gallon in the coming days for the first time since August 2022,” the report said. “Gasoline demand is also on the rise as spring break season continues, another factor in rising pump prices.” 

The Iran conflict is in its fourth week. Negotiations are continuing, according to the White House, and President Donald Trump has delayed potential strikes on Iranian energy sites, citing progress in talks. 

“As per Iranian government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 p.m., Eastern Time,” Trump wrote in a Thursday post on Truth Social. 

“Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the fake news media, and others, they are going very well.” 

Meanwhile, the Iranian regime’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz continues. Over a fifth of the world’s oil and significant amounts of liquefied natural gas shipments move along the narrow strait, from the Middle Eastern countries to global markets. 

According to a Thursday social media post from Turkish national news agency Anadolu Ajansı, around 1,900 ships are currently stranded in the strait. The number could not be independently verified. 

Based on United Nations data, around 20,000 seafarers are stuck on boats waiting for the impasse to be resolved. 

The war on Iran has taken 11 million barrels of oil per day from the global supply. 

“For today, the markets are not assuming ⁠a huge impact, particularly in oil. If you look at the forward curve, they’re assuming this will end quite fast and things will stabilize quite quickly,” Macquarie Chief Executive Shemara Wikramanayake told the Asia Pacific Financial and Innovation Symposium in Melbourne on Thursday. Macquarie Group is a global financial services firm based in Australia. 

As of 9:57 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Brent Crude was trading at $106.53. It was priced around $70 on Feb. 26, two days before the war began — an increase of over 52%. WTI crude futures are trading at $92.75. 

The United States’ top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are California at $5.84 per gallon, Hawaii at $5.33, Washington at $5.30, Nevada and Oregon at $4.86, and Arizona at $4.63, according to AAA data, while the lowest prices were in Oklahoma at $3.25, Kansas at $3.27, and Iowa at $3.31. 

Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi’s state-run energy giant ADNOC, told attendees via videolink from the United Arab Emirates, “This is raising the cost of living for those who can least afford it and slowing economic growth everywhere. From factories to farms to families around the world, the human cost is mounting by the day.” 

US Actions to Mitigate High Oil Prices 

The Trump administration has initiated certain actions aimed at curbing the spike in oil prices since the start of the conflict. 

Earlier this month, around 172 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve were scheduled to be released. Member nations of the International Energy Agency also agreed to release about 400 million barrels of oil from reserves. 

On March 12, the Treasury Department issued a license to temporarily permit countries to purchase Russian crude oil and petroleum products that are currently stranded at sea. 

The Treasury also eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil supply, allowing U.S. companies to conduct business with state-run Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., or any entity that the company owns. This was done to mitigate the oil shortage caused by the situation at the Strait of Hormuz. 

On March 19, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the United States may lift sanctions on Iranian oil currently in transit. This could free up about 140 million barrels of oil — equal to about two weeks of supply. 

On March 25, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a temporary 20-day emergency fuel waiver that will allow nationwide sales of gasoline that contains more ethanol in the blend. 

“[After] closely monitoring fuel markets for potential supply disruptions that could create extreme and unusual conditions … we foresee potential for a disruption to the American fuel supply,” EPA Director Lee Zeldin told reporters at the CERAWeek conference. 

The ethanol waiver allows refineries to produce E15 gasoline, which is blended with 15% ethanol. 

Signal staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

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