Are gas prices going up? Here's how much you could pay in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
Gas prices are spiking just days into the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, with the nationwide average already up 22 cents per gallon in the last week, according to AAA.
On Tuesday, March 3, the average price per gallon in the U.S. was $3.11. One day later, the average price per gallon is $3.19, up 9 cents overnight.
Gas prices across the Delaware Valley are seeing an uptick, though they mostly remain under the national average. Pennsylvania is the exception, where the current average price per gallon is 10 cents higher.
AAA spokesperson Jana Tidwell said prices haven't jumped this quickly since Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago.
Here's a look at average gas prices (per gallon) around the region for March 4, according to AAA:
Pennsylvania gas prices
State average: $3.29, up 9 cents overnight and up 17 cents in the last week
Philadelphia 5-county area: $3.18, up 7 cents overnight and up 16 cents in the last week
New Jersey gas prices
State: $3.08, up 10 cents overnight and up 16 cents in the last week
South Jersey: $3.06, up 8 cents overnight and up 18 cents in the last week
Delaware gas prices
State: $3.06, up 5 cents overnight and up 12 cents in the last week
Dover: $3.07, up 5 cents overnight and up 12 cents in the last week
Why are gas prices going up?
Experts warned that crude oil and gas prices could tick up not long after the United States and Israel carried out joint missile attacks on Iran.
According to AAA, 20% of the world's oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is bordered by Iran and connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and then the Arabian Sea.
Though there's no physical blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, oil tankers have stopped using the waterway because of threats from Iran, putting pressure on other oil-producing regions and driving prices up.
The price of crude oil – which is used to make gasoline – is above $70 a barrel this week, AAA said.
Even though the U.S. produces much of its own oil, Villanova University geography professor Frank Galgano said prices are still tied to the global market. So when shipments slow in the Strait of Hormuz, the ripple effects are felt worldwide.
Drexel finance professor Eliezer Fich said that uncertainty creates what traders call a "risk premium."
"The market isn't just reacting to the oil we're using today," Fich said. "It's panicking about what may happen tomorrow."
With prices jumping so quickly, some drivers are wondering whether gas stations are allowed to raise prices this fast, and if it's even legal.
"So in general, the market for retail gasoline — the price is not regulated," Todd Aagaard, of the Villanova University Charles Widger Law School, said. "So this unlike the natural gas that you buy from a public utility that's regulated by the State Public Utility Commision. Gasoline is just like the price of milk or the price of anything else you buy as a consumer good."
Aagaard said that doesn't mean stations are price gouging. He said they are simply passing along higher costs from their suppliers.
"They have a very thin margin," Aagard said.
The big question now: How long drivers will be feeling it at the pump? Experts said that's difficult to predict, but the disruption in global oil shipments means the spike likely won't fade anytime soon.
"It's not going to get cleared up in the next week or 10 days," Galgano said.
