March 17 (UPI) — U.S. gasoline prices have surged by 27% and diesel by 34% since the start of U.S. attacks on Iran last month, fuel costs reported Tuesday indicate.
AAA reported that the national average cost for a gallon of gas in the United States was $3.79 Tuesday morning. Diesel was $5.044 per gallon, topping the $5 threshold for the first time in three years, CNBC reported.
A year ago, those prices were $3.078 and $3.592, respectively. A month ago, they were $2.917 and $3.651.
Fuel prices have been on the rise globally since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28 amid negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. The attacks, which killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prompted Tehran to effectively close down the Strait of Hormuz by banning ships linked to the United States or Israel. About 20% of the world’s oil runs through the waterway that separates Iran and Oman.
Brent Crude, the benchmark price for oil worldwide, rose about 2% to $102 a barrel Tuesday, The New York Times reported. The West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rose to $95 a barrel.
Diesel prices are particularly tied to the U.S. economy, which depends on it for the transportation of goods via trucks, trains and barges. Recent surges in prices could have a cascading effect.
Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, said Tuesday that trucking and rail companies have begun increasing their fuel surcharges in response to the fuel hikes.
“One should really be worried about higher diesel prices,” he said in a note published by CNBC.
President Donald Trump this week put pressure on other nations that rely on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz to join a coalition to police the transit route and reopen traffic.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said the United States doesn’t need to be involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz because little of its oil passes through the waterway. About 7% of the United States’ crude oil and condensate imports passed through the strait in the first half of last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.
He said the United States was protecting it “almost like we do it for habit” and to help “some very good allies that we have in the Middle East.”
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said Monday, “until we see a meaningful resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, upward pressure on fuel prices is likely to persist.”
