US gas prices jumped 6 cents to $4.18 on average, the highest price since August 2022, according to the latest reading from AAA, CNN reported.
It was the largest one-day increase in five weeks, and rising oil futures suggest that even higher pump prices lay ahead. Oil futures gained about 3% to $111 a barrel Tuesday.
Average US gas prices had fallen for two weeks to $4.02 after the start of the ceasefire in the war in Iran. But concerns over stalled peace talks without an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has sent prices shooting higher once again.
Wholesale gasoline futures have been rising as the United States rapidly draws down its inventories. In past years, the United States has kept about 250 million barrels of gas in storage, but current stockpiles have fallen below 230 million, according to Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
As the United States exports record amounts of crude and refined products to offset some of the losses from the Middle East, US prices are expected to rise some more. Average gas prices could rise as high as $4.30 in the next week to 10 days, Lipow predicted.
California, which has long had the highest average price of any state, now has an average price approaching $6 a gallon with a state average of $5.97.
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