By Al Ahed Staff, Agencies
Gasoline prices in the United States reached an average of $3.41 per gallon on Saturday, marking a 14% increase over the past week. The surge comes as US-“Israeli” aggression on Iran has disrupted oil exports from the Gulf.
The attacks have affected roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil supply, pushing the US crude oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate to $90.90 per barrel by Friday. Most of the increase occurred in a single day, reflecting market anxiety over further disruptions in energy supply.
The rise in fuel costs is not limited to gasoline. Diesel, jet fuel, and other refined products have also become more expensive, impacting transportation, logistics, and industrial sectors across the United States.
Fuel prices vary significantly across the US Californians paid the highest average of $5.08 per gallon, while drivers in Kansas paid $2.90. Oil accounts for approximately 60% of gasoline costs, with taxes, refining, and distribution adding additional burdens.
Analysts say the volatility underscores how military escalation in the Middle East directly affects global energy markets. The disruption of Gulf exports has exposed the vulnerability of international supply chains to foreign interventions.
As such, the ripple effects of the joint aggression are felt far beyond the war zone, highlighting the broader economic consequences of military aggression.
Rising fuel prices are straining American households and businesses. Wayne Winegarden, an economist at the Pacific Research Institute, said, “Even if it is a short-term increase in prices and in two to three months we go back to where we were, you still significantly squeeze people’s budgets, and you significantly impacted the economy. That will have long-term implications.”
This comes as US President Donald Trump emphasized that military objectives in Iran take priority over fuel costs. “They will drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit,” he said.
While the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, holding 714 million barrels, could provide temporary relief, experts caution that the reserve is meant for emergency supply needs rather than long-term market stabilization. Winegarden added, “If the United States is being impacted and we do not have supplies, and the military or the government needs oil, that is the purpose of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. If its purpose is to ameliorate market trends, it is insufficient for that job.”
Energy markets have been volatile since the start of the war. Oil futures briefly reached around $82 per barrel amid reports of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
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