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A man pumps gas at a Shell station in Houston, Texas, on March 16. The war with Iran has driven up gas prices at a time when affordability is high on people's minds. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
The price for a gallon of gas rose above $4 on 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.
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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.
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.
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, Ala., 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."
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 Corp.'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.
Younger generations are especially vulnerable to higher fuel costs. Gen Z and millennial households spend more on gas compared to their discretionary budget, according to the Bank of America Institute.
Not all driving is discretionary; some is needed for work. Ken Davis was driving back to Atlanta from Birmingham when he stopped at Buc-ee's for fuel. He said he plans on cutting back on personal trips, but had to keep this business trip.
One way around the prices would be to go electric, like Davis' wife, Dianna, with her EV.
"She's got a full tank every day she leaves home," Davis said. "I'm still going with gas, so I've got to pay the price."
