Americans have spent $109.2 billion more on gasoline and diesel since March 1 than in the same period a year earlier, a gap that is widening by roughly $730 million a day, according to GasBuddy head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan. The surge followed U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on 28 February 2026 and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that normally carries more than 100 vessels a day and about a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade. West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $97.26 per barrel on September 9, 2026, up 16.1% from a month earlier, while the U.S. retail gasoline average reached $4.16 per gallon in the week ending September 7, up from $2.78 in mid-January. Diesel has crossed $6 a gallon nationally for the first time on record, with 28 states setting all-time highs and five California stations printing $9.999 a gallon, the highest their pumps can display. The figure is a GasBuddy estimate using its own methodology, not a federal statistic, and has not been independently audited.
GasBuddy is cited only as the source of the $109.2 billion spending estimate, not as a subject of the news.
