US gas prices skyrocket to highest level since 2023 after 19 days of war in Iran

The U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran are taking a toll on each American's pockets as gas prices surge to the highest level in three years.

Iran responded to the decapitation strikes by confirming fears that it would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a choking point for global oil tankers.

'I would love to see the gas prices go down because everybody might not be financially able to meet the demands of these high prices.'

Oil prices have skyrocketed in the nearly three weeks since the strikes began, and Americans are paying nearly a dollar more per gallon at the pump.

That equates to about a 28.9% increase on average, from $2.98 at the beginning of the war to $3.84 on Wednesday.

The Associated Press spoke to drivers in Louisiana and Mississippi as they pumped gas into their vehicles.

"It's pretty hard. I mean, times are tough for everybody right now," Amanda Acosta said. "I'm getting way less gas and paying way more money."

"I would love to see the war end," said Thelma Williams, an Army Reserves veteran. "I would love to see the gas prices go down because everybody might not be financially able to meet the demands of these high prices."

Meanwhile in Texas, Lubbock resident Clay Plant said the spikes in oil prices mean an immediate surge of jobs for workers in his region.

"It's kind of a good sign for us in west Texas," he said. "I look at it as my friends and family get to eat, and they get to go to work."

Gas prices range from a high in California of over $5.56 per gallon to a low in Kansas of about $3.23.

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Economists warn that the rise in oil prices increases the cost of all products that need to be transported and also leads to lower consumer spending as Americans readjust their budgets.

To provide some gas price relief, President Donald Trump temporarily suspended the Jones Act, a 1920 law restricting foreign-flagged ships, on Wednesday. The act has been excoriated by free market economists who argue that it leads to detrimentally higher costs on products shipped to the U.S.

About one-fifth of the world's global oil supply flowed through the Strait of Hormuz.

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