{"id":155559,"date":"2026-03-06T19:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/155559\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T19:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:00:11","slug":"why-are-new-york-drivers-paying-more-for-gasoline-a-week-after-u-s-air-strikes-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/155559\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are New York drivers paying more for gasoline a week after U.S. air strikes on Iran?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/drivers-pump-gas-bronx-lloyd-mitchell-03062026-4.jpg\" class=\"crop-center wp-post-image\" alt=\"New Yorker pumps gasoline at station in the Bronx\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   title=\"Why are New York drivers paying more for gasoline a week after U.S. air strikes on Iran? 1\"\/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>A driver pumps gas at a BP station in the Bronx on March 6, 2026, where a gallon of regular gas went for $3.39 that day.<\/p>\n<p>Photo by Lloyd Mitchell <\/p>\n<p>New Yorkers are suddenly paying much more at the pump to fill up their vehicles, as gasoline prices have surged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amny.com\/news\/operation-epic-fury-iran-conflict-protestors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">nearly a week after the U.S. air strikes on Iran began<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gasprices.aaa.com\/?state=NY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The American Automobile Association (AAA)<\/a> reported on Friday that the average price for a gallon of regular gas in New York City rose by about 31 cents over the last week \u2014 from $2.988 on Feb. 27 to $3.296 as of March 6. The current average price of gasoline is about 14 cents higher than it was at the same point a year ago ($3.152).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Diesel prices also surged 39 cents in one week, from $4.20 to $4.59 per gallon. That spells trouble for trucking companies and those who rely on them, as the extra fuel costs will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/03\/04\/iran-war-gas-prices-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">likely be passed on to consumers in higher prices later.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gas prices in New York City still remain slightly below the national average of $3.32 as of March 6. Nationwide, gas prices have surged by an average of 27 cents, according to AAA.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-137835842\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/drivers-pump-gas-bronx-lloyd-mitchell-03062026-3.jpg\" alt=\"Gas prices at a BP gasoline station in the Bronx\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" title=\"Why are New York drivers paying more for gasoline a week after U.S. air strikes on Iran? 2\"  \/>A gallon of gas at this BP station in the Bronx went for $3.39 on March 6, 2026.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell\n<\/p>\n<p>The surge in gas prices comes a week after the joint U.S.\/Israel air strikes in Iran, which started on Feb. 28 in an effort to oust the fundamentalist Islamic regime in power there for 47 years.<\/p>\n<p>Iran is not only one of the world\u2019s largest oil producers but is also located near the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea used by tankers around the world to access other oil-rich nations in the Middle East, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n<p>After the attack was launched, Iran\u2019s regime warned that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wmur.com\/article\/how-iran-strikes-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-pushed-oil-prices-higher\/70574904\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">any vessel attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz would be fired upon<\/a>. The threat brought tanker traffic to a standstill, thereby reducing shipments of oil from the region, lowering the supply at oil refineries that produce gasoline \u2014 and driving up prices as a result.<\/p>\n<p>As of 11:14 a.m. on Friday morning, crude oil traded at $89 per barrel. On Feb. 27, that price was just $63.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-137835844\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-05T214324Z_1154639887_RC2LYJAAQJLW_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP.jpg\" alt=\"President Trump speaks amid high gasoline prices\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" title=\"Why are New York drivers paying more for gasoline a week after U.S. air strikes on Iran? 3\"  \/>In an interview with Reuters published on March 5, President Trump said he was not concerned about the price spike, expressing confidence that costs will fall once the military operation in Iran is over.REUTERS\/Jonathan Ernst\n<\/p>\n<p>The price spike is similar to one Americans experienced four years ago, in March 2022, weeks after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. At the time, the <a href=\"https:\/\/usafacts.org\/articles\/did-releasing-oil-from-the-strategic-petroleum-reserve-impact-gas-prices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Biden administration tapped into the country\u2019s strategic petroleum reserve<\/a> to increase supply and lower gasoline prices.<\/p>\n<p>New York state also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amny.com\/politics\/new-york-drivers-to-get-gas-tax-holiday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">instituted a seven-month gas tax holiday to drop prices at the pump<\/a>. amNewYork reached out to Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s office for comment about any pending state action on gas prices now, and is awaiting a response.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/06\/business\/aaa-gas-prices.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">an interview with Reuters published on March 5<\/a>, President Trump said he was not concerned about the price spike, expressing confidence that costs will fall once the military operation is over.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit,\u201d Trump said.\n<\/p>\n<p>Administration officials, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-independent.com\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/iran-strikes-trump-hegseth-speech-b2930211.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,<\/a> have not provided a timeline on when the military operation against Iran will end.<\/p>\n<p>At least <a href=\"https:\/\/ca.finance.yahoo.com\/news\/trump-lauds-us-war-effort-065828588.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">1,200 people have reportedly died in the operation and retaliatory attacks<\/a>, including at least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/03\/world\/middleeast\/us-soldiers-killed-iran-war.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">six American soldiers.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A driver pumps gas at a BP station in the Bronx on March 6, 2026, where a gallon&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[23093,64391,64392,55371,64393,22875,64394,6079,64395,62201,9,24,55,54,56,64396,62208,64397,64398],"class_list":["post-155559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-aaa","tag-crude-oil-prices","tag-diesel-prices","tag-energy-crisis","tag-fuel-costs","tag-gas-prices","tag-gasoline-surge","tag-inflation","tag-iran-air-strikes","tag-middle-east-conflict","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-oil-supply-disruption","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-strategic-petroleum-reserve","tag-us-military-strikes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}