{"id":143366,"date":"2026-03-20T02:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T02:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/143366\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T02:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T02:49:08","slug":"gas-prices-hit-two-year-high-in-philadelphia-region-amid-middle-east-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/143366\/","title":{"rendered":"Gas prices hit two-year high in Philadelphia region amid Middle East war"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0b8lcr1wkpcrt93n.jpg\" alt=\"Gas prices spike in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-4292be72=\"\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">PHILADELPHIA &#8211; Gas prices are climbing across the region, with many stations now charging close to $4 a gallon and some even higher. Drivers say the rising costs are putting a strain on their wallets, and experts point to the ongoing war in the Middle East as a key reason for the surge.<\/p>\n<p>   Drivers react to rising costs at the pump <\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Gas prices are at their highest level in more than two years, with regular gas selling for $3.99 at a Sunoco station in Wayne and $4.15 at a station on Oregon Avenue in South Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The national average for a gallon of regular is $3.88, according to AAA.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">In Pennsylvania, the average price is $3.82, up 16 cents from a week ago and 60 cents from a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">New Jersey drivers are paying $3.79, up 28 cents from last week, while in Delaware, the price is $3.75 a gallon.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Many drivers say the increase is hitting their budgets hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">&#8220;Semi-retired, it puts a hurtin on your pocket for sure,&#8221; said Rick Petrella of Newtown Square. &#8220;It sucks quite honestly,&#8221; said Kevin Amos of Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Some drivers are frustrated by the rapid rise. &#8220;It&#8217;s ridiculous. $4.75. You know what I mean. It&#8217;s ridiculous,&#8221; said Bill. &#8220;71 dollars. It&#8217;s gone up quite a bit,&#8221; said Petrella. &#8220;You gotta get it. You gotta get it right?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The ongoing war in the Middle East is a major factor behind the price hike, according to analysts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about Americans that live paycheck to paycheck and are going to have to start cutting back, so this is something that continues to grow,&#8221; said Patrick DeHaan, Gas Buddy analyst.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">At some stations, diesel fuel is already over $5 a gallon, raising concerns that regular gas could soon follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The last time the national average topped $5 was June 2022.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Some people say the bigger concern is the situation overseas. &#8220;I think the problem is more significant than gas prices, so I&#8217;d be like a year from now, prices were at 5 dollars, that was our biggest problem,&#8221; said Oliver Lau of Wayne.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The rise in gas prices comes as the war in the Middle East continues, disrupting oil supplies and pushing up costs worldwide. Analysts say the average household fills up once a week, making the increase especially tough for those living paycheck to paycheck.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Drivers across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are feeling the impact, with many saying they have no choice but to pay the higher prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">&#8220;They&#8217;re going up. Skyrocketing,&#8221; said Jabrill. &#8220;What else can we do. I gotta drive.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">While most people are focused on the pain at the pump, some are looking at the broader issues driving the price surge.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">By the numbers:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The national average for regular gas is $3.88 a gallon, according to AAA.<\/p>\n<p> Pennsylvania: $3.82 a gallon, up 16 cents from last week and 60 cents from a year ago.New Jersey: $3.79 a gallon, up 28 cents from last week.Delaware: $3.75 a gallon. <\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Diesel fuel is already over $5 a gallon at some stations.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What we don&#8217;t know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">It is not clear how long gas prices will continue to rise or when relief might come for drivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The future impact of the war in the Middle East on fuel costs also remains uncertain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information from interviews with drivers, AAA, and Gas Buddy analyst Patrick DeHaan.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox29.com\/tag\/news\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">News<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox29.com\/tag\/money\/us-economy\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Economy<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA &#8211; Gas prices are climbing across the region, with many stations now charging close to $4 a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[83,139,69,71,70,8153],"class_list":["post-143366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-money","tag-news","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-us-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}