Local gas prices surge, up 40 cents in a week statewide

GREENE COUNTY―Gasoline prices continued to climb across the country on Monday after the war in Iran briefly pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel.

Nationally, the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.48 on Monday, up from $3.00 a week ago and $2.90 this time last month, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

In New York State, Monday’s average was $3.40 a gallon, an increase of 40 cents from a week ago and 42 cents more than the price at the pump was a month ago. Downstate and North Country counties currently have the highest prices, with St. Lawrence County averaging $3.62 per gallon.

Greene County gas stations were charging an average of $3.31 a gallon on Monday, AAA reported.

“Springtime typically sees higher gas prices as gasoline demand rises and summer-blend gasoline production begins,” AAA reported last week when prices jumped an average of 27 cents per gallon nationwide, noting that the conflict in Iran had also sent crude oil prices to more than $70/barrel range.

But the price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, surged to $119.50 per barrel on Monday—the highest level since the summer following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. By the end of the day on Monday, the price fell to just under $90.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Sunday called on the Trump administration to immediately release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to stabilize markets.

The conflict has cut the world off from roughly one-fifth of its global oil supply, as tankers that normally carry oil out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz have stopped moving, Schumer noted.

Every dollar increase in the price of an oil barrel translates into roughly a 2.5-cent increase in gas prices, and those costs ripple across the entire economy, driving up the price of everything from diesel and jet fuel to heating oil and groceries, Schumer said.

"The Strategic Petroleum Reserve exists for moments exactly like this," said Schumer. "When wars and global crises disrupt energy markets, the United States has the ability to act, but President [Donald] Trump and his administration are refusing to do so.”

In a social media post on Sunday night, Trump countered that, "Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace."

The president told reporters on Monday that he expects the war to end "very soon," and cautioned that Iran would be hit "much, much harder" if it impedes the oil supply.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy precited that has prices are not done edging upward and could hit an average of $4 per gallon nationwide before stabilizing.

“In just a week, consumers have seen gasoline prices surge at one of the fastest rates in years after oil prices spiked following U.S. strikes on Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” said De Haan.

“With additional attacks across the Middle East over the weekend pushing oil above $100 per barrel for the first time in years, fuel markets are now rapidly recalibrating to the risk of prolonged disruption to global supply flows,” he said.