Overview
- The national average for regular gasoline hit about $4.14–$4.15 per gallon on Monday, the highest Labor Day level on record, while diesel averaged roughly $5.85–$5.90 per gallon.
- Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz collapsed compared with late 2025 levels, cutting crude flows and helping lift benchmarks with WTI near $92 a barrel and Brent near $97 a barrel.
- Damage to refineries in the Middle East and reduced Russian refining output have squeezed refined fuels, leaving diesel especially tight and raising costs for trucking, farming and heating.
- Regulators and industry have taken limited steps to ease pressure, including the EPA’s early approval to sell winter‑blend gasoline starting Sept. 1, but those moves are expected to provide only modest, gradual relief.
- Analysts estimate the U.S. has paid about $100 billion in extra energy costs since the conflict began, roughly $763 per household, and prices vary widely by state with California and Hawaii among the most expensive.