The average regular U.S. gasoline price has jumped to over $4 per gallon.
That’s according to the AAA Fuel Prices website – which showed that, as of March 31, the average regular U.S. gasoline price stood at $4.018 per gallon – and GasBuddy’s live ticking average of regular gasoline in the U.S. – which put the price at $4.008 per gallon, as of 7.25am EST on March 31.
Yesterday’s average was $3.990 per gallon, the week ago average was $3.977 per gallon, the month ago average was $2.982 per gallon, and the year ago average was $3.168 per gallon, the AAA Fuel Prices site showed. The highest recorded average price of regular gasoline was seen on June 14, 2022, at $5.016 per gallon, the AAA Fuel Prices site outlined.
GasBuddy’s price of $4.008 per gallon was unchanged from yesterday’s average, up 1.7 cents from last week’s average, up 103.6 cents from last month’s average, and up 84.2 cents from last year’s average, GasBuddy’s site showed.
In a blog posted on its website on Monday, GasBuddy noted that U.S. gas price increases had slowed “significantly” but warned that a $4 national average was still likely.
GasBuddy highlighted in its blog that the nation’s average price of gasoline had risen 2.4 cents over the last week and revealed that it stood at $3.95 per gallon, according to its data.
“The national average is up 97.9 cents from a month ago and is 83.8 cents per gallon higher than a year ago,” GasBuddy said in the blog.
The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.99 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s blog, which noted that this was up 30 cents from a week ago. This price was followed by $3.89, $3.79, $3.69, and $3.59, GasBuddy revealed.
“The median U.S. gas price is $3.79 per gallon, unchanged from last week and about 16 cents lower than the national average,” GasBuddy stated in the blog, noting that the top 10 percent of stations in the country average $5.65 per gallon, while the bottom 10 percent average $3.23 per gallon.
“Gasoline and diesel prices continue to climb to multi-year highs as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz curtails the flow of millions of barrels of crude oil each day,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in the blog.
“The situation remains highly volatile and unpredictable, but upward pressure on fuel prices is likely to persist as long as global oil supplies are constrained by the continued disruption in the Strait,” he added.
“We’re likely to see the national average for gasoline push beyond the $4 per gallon mark, while diesel could approach $6 per gallon and potentially set new records if conditions fail to improve,” he continued.
“Americans have already spent nearly $8 billion more on gasoline over the past month, a trend that poses growing risks to the broader economy, while surging diesel prices may begin to reaccelerate inflation,” De Haan went on to warn.
In its latest short term energy outlook (STEO), which was released on March 10, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) increased its U.S. gasoline price forecasts for both 2026 and 2027.
According to its March STEO, the EIA now sees the U.S. regular gasoline retail price averaging $3.34 per gallon in 2026 and $3.18 per gallon in 2027. In its previous STEO, which was released in February, the EIA projected that the U.S. regular gasoline retail price would average $2.91 per gallon this year and $2.93 per gallon next year.
“The U.S. average retail gasoline price in our forecast averages $3.58 per gallon in March,” the EIA said in its latest STEO.
“Relative to last month’s STEO, higher crude oil prices contribute to gasoline prices that are 60 cents per gallon higher in March and about 70 cents per gallon higher in the second quarter of 2026,” it added.
“Prices decline in the third and fourth quarters, falling back close to $3.00 per gallon by the end of the year. Our annual average forecast for retail gasoline prices in 2026 is now $3.34 per gallon,” it continued.
“In 2027, we expect annual average retail gasoline prices to fall below $3.20 per gallon. Our 2027 forecast is up 25 cents per gallon compared with our February STEO,” it said.
In its March STEO, the EIA stated that crude oil prices typically constitute around half the total retail price of gasoline.
“Other factors include, but are not limited to, refinery margins (subtracting crude oil cost from the refined product price) and retail margins (subtracting wholesale gasoline cost from the pump price),” the EIA said.
“Although we expect most of the gasoline price increase to be passed through to the retail price in the coming weeks, we also expect that the normalization of refining and retail margins will occur more slowly,” it added.
“The net effect will be continued upward pressure in the second quarter that lags behind the initial increase,” it continued.
“Well above-average seasonal gasoline inventories reported in our Weekly Petroleum Status Report support our outlook for higher inventories of gasoline in 2026, which contributes to some downward pressure on refiner and retail margins,” the EIA went on to state.
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