{"id":212562,"date":"2026-03-20T06:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/212562\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T06:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:31:15","slug":"el-paso-drivers-paying-most-among-metro-areas-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/212562\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso drivers paying most among metro areas in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 Gas prices continued to spike upward for a third straight week in Texas and throughout the U.S., according to the AAA Texas Weekend Gas Watch.<\/p>\n

And drivers in El Paso are feeling the pinch in particular.<\/p>\n

The statewide average of $3.58 is 32 cents higher than a week ago, while the U.S. average of $3.88 is 29 cents higher than a year ago and is likely to top $4 a gallon in the next week if gas prices continue their rapid rise.<\/p>\n

The statewide average is 86 cents higher per gallon than on this day last year, while the national average is 78 cents higher than a year ago.<\/p>\n

Of the major metropolitan areas surveyed in Texas, drivers in El Paso are paying the most on average at $3.89 per gallon while drivers in Amarillo are paying the least at $3.27 per gallon.<\/p>\n

\u201cOil prices continue to hover near $100 a barrel compared to less than $70 a barrel when the Iran conflict began at the end of February, and that has been pushing up pump prices by about 3 to 4 cents a day nationally and statewide,\u201d said Doug Shupe, spokesperson for AAA Texas. \u201cSo far, the Texas statewide average gas price has risen by nearly $1 a gallon since the conflict began.\u201d<\/p>\n

AAA Fuel Saving Tips<\/p>\n

Watch your speed. Fuel economy peaks at around 50 mph\u00a0on\u00a0most cars, then drops off as speeds increase. Reducing highway speeds by 5 to 10 mph can increase fuel economy by as much as 14%.<\/p>\n

Avoid excessive idling. A car engine consumes\u00a0one quarter to\u00a0one-half gallon of fuel per hour when idling, but a warm engine\u00a0only takes around 10 seconds worth of fuel to restart. Where safe to do so, shut off your engine if you will be stopped for more than a minute.<\/p>\n

Regular vs. Premium. Pay close attention to the words \u201crecommended\u201d and \u201crequired.\u201d If regular gas\u00a0is recommended for your vehicle, that\u2019s all you need. Choosing premium when your car doesn\u2019t require it will\u00a0only cost you\u00a0money\u00a0and doesn\u2019t improve fuel economy.<\/p>\n

Remove unnecessary weight from your vehicle (e.g., trunk, cargo\u00a0area, etc. ) as weight increases the amount of effort it takes to move the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Check and maintain your\u00a0tire\u00a0pressure. Maintaining the proper\u00a0pressure\u00a0will save you gas money as it takes less effort to move the vehicle and proper\u00a0tire\u00a0pressure\u00a0decreases wear on the\u00a0tires. Follow the recommended\u00a0pressure\u00a0as identified in your owner\u2019s manual and\/or a decal located on the driver\u2019s side door.<\/p>\n

For road trips, map out your route ahead of time to avoid unnecessary stops. Pack enough water and snacks to hold you over to avoid spending extra cash\u00a0on\u00a0fast food.<\/p>\n

AAA has a free travel tool\u00a0TripTik<\/a>\u00a0Travel Planner that lets you identify gas\u00a0stations, EV charging stations, hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, and attractions along your route. That helps keep you\u00a0on\u00a0track and avoids unnecessary detours.<\/p>\n

Another handy tool for road trips is the\u00a0AAA Gas\u00a0Cost Calculator<\/a>\u00a0which estimates fuel costs for your vehicle\u2019s make and model.<\/p>\n

Take advantage of fuel rewards at gas stations.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 Gas prices continued to spike upward for a third straight week in Texas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,27],"class_list":["post-212562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}