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Regular gas was selling for $6.89 a gallon at a Shell gas station in S. San Francisco. March 24, 2026
OAKLAND, Calif. – Gas prices continue to climb across the region, leaving many Bay Area drivers paying more than $6 a gallon.
In Martinez, some stations remain among the cheapest options in Contra Costa County, even as the statewide average for a gallon of regular unleaded has reached $5.93—an increase of more than a dollar from just one month ago.
The spike is being driven by the ongoing conflict in Iran.
President Trump issued a warning to Iran on Sunday via a social media message, giving the nation until Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST to open the Strait of Hormuz. The president threatened to strike critical Iranian infrastructure if the key waterway is not cleared for vessels.
While some local stations are maintaining lower prices, others in the area have been spotted as high as $6.30, with some nearing $6.80 per gallon. One station in South San Francisco was selling gas for $6.89 on March 24.
Severin Borenstein, a UC Berkeley professor and faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas, says the market has not yet felt the full impact of the rising costs.
“We haven’t seen all of the crude oil price increase feed through yet to gasoline,” Borenstein said. “So I think we’re in for some more increases if crude oil prices stay this high.”
Borenstein noted that future pricing depends entirely on the progression of the war and the administration’s rhetoric, noting that current events are moving oil prices more significantly than they have historically.
“It’s very difficult to predict what’s going to happen to crude oil prices as long as the war continues,” Borenstein said.