Gas crosses $4 a gallon in U.S. for the first time in 3 years

Business

Gas crosses $4 a gallon in U.S. for the first time in 3 years March 31, 20269:18 AM ET

A man uses a gas pump at a Shell gas station in Houston, Texas, on March 16, 2026. Oil prices retreated and equities rose Monday as investors remained focused on the Strait of Hormuz, with US allies pushing back against President Donald Trump's demands to help reopen the key waterway to oil and natural gas tankers. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

The price for a gallon of gas rose above $4 Tuesday. That number crosses a psychological line for many Americans, and reflects the ongoing cost of the war with Iran.

Drivers are paying about a dollar more per gallon compared with the end of February, when the U.S. and Israel first launched their offensive against Iran, and the price of crude oil spiked. Since then, oil markets have been on a roller coaster, rising up and down alongside pessimism and optimism for a quick end to the war.

Oil Markets have recently reflected concern that the Strait of Hormuz, the single most important waterway for the global oil trade, was far from reopening.

Stock market numbers are displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Business

Worried about a shaky stock market? This is what financial advisers suggest you do

Overnight, Iran attacked and set on fire a massive Kuwaiti oil tanker off Dubai. Other countries in the Middle East also reported drone attacks overnight, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Crude oil cost about $102 a barrel Monday. The price was about $67 before the war began.

A resident gestures from an upper floor of a ruined residential building that was hit in an airstrike earlier this morning on March 30, 2026 in the west of Tehran, Iran.

Middle East conflict

Trump tells Europe 'get your own oil,' Iran hits oil tanker off Dubai

The last time gas was above $4 a gallon was in the summer of 2022, driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Americans are hitting the road despite elevated prices

For many Americans there is no choice besides paying up. This past weekend, Ron Purdin

filled up his car after church. and said he supports the current war with Iran. Purdin drove to a Buc-ee's in Leeds, Alabama, where gas was about 50 cents below the national average but still well above the Deep South norm. It cost Purdin $43.09 to fill up his car, $10 more than a few weeks earlier when he thought prices were already high.

He says he's saved enough to go about two months with gas prices this high before he really feels it, but would rather they drop sooner.

"I'm ready for it to go back down," Purdin said. "When you're on a fixed income like I am, it makes it tough."

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing international oil prices at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on March 18.

Middle East conflict

How long will the war last? No one knows, and it's making oil prices weird

Americans across the country are still hitting the road despite elevated prices. Drivers in mid-March also logged more miles compared with a month earlier, according to anonymized driver data to Allstate Corporation's mobility analytics company Arity. Though Arity also said drives started from higher-income areas are adding up the additional miles faster compared with lower-income communities.