The national average price of regular gasoline was $4.16 per gallon as of April 10, according to AAA [1]. California led the country at $5.92. Oklahoma sat lowest at approximately $3.47. The pre-war national average on February 28 was $2.98. The ceasefire has not reversed the increase.

March CPI data released April 10 confirmed what drivers already knew. Gasoline prices rose 21.2 percent month-over-month, the largest single-month increase since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began collecting the data in 1967 [2]. The number is not a misprint. It reflects the speed at which the Hormuz closure transmitted into retail fuel costs — a supply shock that moved from tanker routes to gas pumps in weeks, not months.

Economists say a return to pre-war price levels would take months even under the best-case scenario. Refinery margins have widened, logistics costs remain elevated, and the strategic petroleum reserve drawdowns that softened earlier price spikes have left less cushion for the next disruption. The ceasefire may have stabilized crude oil futures, but refined gasoline pricing operates on a different timeline. Stations that bought fuel at war-premium wholesale prices will sell it at war-premium retail prices until that inventory cycles through. For the average American filling a 15-gallon tank, the war costs roughly $17.70 more per fill-up than it did six weeks ago.

-- DARA OSEI, London