In April, California's average price for a gallon of regular gasoline reached $6.01, the highest since October 2023, as the war in Iran disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, driving prices to four-year highs across the country.
The national average climbed 27 cents in a week to $4.30, AAA said, with no sign that the world's busiest oil shipping route will reopen soon.
California is the only state ever to average above $6, Bloomberg reported, and no other comes close. Hawaii is second at $5.64 and Washington third at $5.57, AAA figures show.
Diesel in California ran about $7.50 on Thursday, up roughly 47% since the war began, and set a state record of $7.75 on April 9.
The trigger is the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow Persian Gulf passage that carried about 20% of seaborne oil before the war.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard began warning ships off the strait on Feb. 28, the day U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and opened the war, and formally declared the strait closed on March 2.
Traffic has fallen to a small fraction of normal, and the U.S. imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports on April 13 after talks in Pakistan collapsed.
Pentagon officials told the House Armed Services Committee on April 21 that clearing Iranian mines could take six months, Al Jazeera reported.
Crude has tracked the standoff.
West Texas Intermediate settled at $106.88 a barrel on Wednesday, AAA said, and Brent crude hit a four-year high above $114 on Thursday before pulling back.
Gas prices briefly eased in mid-April on hopes of a deal; they resumed climbing once a ceasefire collapsed and Iran kept the strait shut.
California's exposure runs deeper than the global price.
The state has no pipelines from Gulf Coast refineries, requires its own gasoline blend, and has lost capacity fast.
Phillips 66 shut down its Los Angeles refinery late last year, and Valero is closing its Benicia plant this month, together cutting roughly 17% of in-state refining capacity.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration warned last summer that the closures would have an outsized effect on West Coast supply.
Despite the closures, California Gov. Gavin Newsom tied the increase to President Donald Trump's decision to attack Iran.
"Every American who fills up their tank this week, buys groceries, or books a flight is paying Donald Trump's Iran war tax," Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement Thursday.
"He started the Iran war with no plan, and it is clear he has no plan to end it either."
Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that he believed gas prices peaked in mid-April, Bloomberg reported.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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