Just last month, Fresno drivers were paying $4.593 for unleaded and $5.045 for diesel.<\/p>\n
And in January, drivers could find regular unleaded gas as cheap as $3.29 per gallon in Fresno<\/a>.<\/p>\n The war in Iran has been the root of people\u2019s pain at the pump, with crude oil supply chain disruptions<\/a> and cuts from major producers across the Middle East, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n Crude oil prices often determine the price of what people pay at the pump.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, brent crude, the international standard, was trading at over $108 a barrel. That\u2019s roughly $70 more compared to a few weeks ago. Benchmark U.S. crude is now going for almost $98 a barrel.<\/p>\n In early February, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasted that crude oil prices to fall<\/a> from an average of $69 per barrel in 2025 to $58 per barrel in 2026 and $53 per barrel in 2026.<\/p>\n But that was before the United States, in coordination with Israel, launched airstrikes against Iran<\/a> on Feb. 28, 2026.<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet described rising prices as a \u201csmall price to pay\u201d<\/a> to achieve their goals in Iran, according to The Hill.<\/p>\n On average, fuel prices are at its highest since September 2023.<\/p>\n However, today\u2019s prices still aren\u2019t nearly as high as when the United States got involved in the Ukraine War. In June 2022<\/a>, the average price for regular gas in Fresno was at $6.32 per gallon.<\/p>\n The current cost of fuel also is higher due to the typical increase in prices as the weather warms up.<\/p>\n To help offset rising prices, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would release 172 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves over four months. The move is part of a broader effort by the International Energy Agency to release a total of 400 million barrels of oil, the largest emergency release in its history, according to AAA<\/a>.<\/p>\n By state, the five most expensive gasoline markets are: California ($5.36), Hawaii ($4.76), Washington ($4.74), Nevada ($4.39), Oregon ($4.30).<\/p>\n The five least expensive gasoline markets are: Kansas ($3.04), Oklahoma ($3.05), North Dakota ($3.09), Arkansas ($3.11), Missouri ($3.12).<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n