The national price of regular gasoline reached a Labor Day record of $4.15 per gallon Monday as higher crude oil costs, reduced flows through the Strait of Hormuz and tight fuel inventories kept pressure on American motorists.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
American drivers faced the highest gasoline prices ever recorded for Labor Day on Monday, with the national average for regular fuel climbing above $4 per gallon for the first time on the holiday.
The nationwide average reached $4.15 per gallon, according to AAA, exceeding the previous Labor Day record of $3.82 set in 2012.
Although prices have retreated from the 2026 high of $4.56 recorded in May, motorists are still paying substantially more than they were a year ago. The current national average is approximately 30% higher than the $3.20-per-gallon level recorded during the same period in 2025.
The increase was even more pronounced in some local markets. At one Chicago station, regular gasoline was priced at $5.59 per gallon Monday morning as millions of Americans completed their Labor Day weekend travel.
Diesel has experienced an even steeper year-over-year increase. The national average reached $5.90 per gallon Monday, compared with $3.71 a year earlier.
AAA spokesperson Brittany Moye said the customary decline in fuel prices following the peak summer travel period has been disrupted by unusually high crude oil prices.
“While gasoline demand typically declines after the summer driving season — often leading to lower prices — this year’s elevated crude oil costs have offset that seasonal trend,” Moye said.
Much of the pressure on petroleum markets has been tied to the war involving Iran and the resulting disruption to oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy transportation routes.
West Texas Intermediate crude was trading near $92 per barrel Monday. Before the war began Feb. 28, the U.S. benchmark was approximately $67 per barrel.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading near $97 per barrel Monday, up from approximately $72 before the conflict.
The decline in petroleum shipments through the Strait of Hormuz has been substantial.
An estimated 4.9 million barrels per day of crude oil and other petroleum liquids passed through the waterway during the second quarter of 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That was less than one-quarter of the 21.6 million barrels per day that moved through the strait during the fourth quarter of 2025.
Damage to refineries in the Middle East and Russia has placed additional strain on fuel supplies.
Domestic inventories have also remained comparatively tight. U.S. gasoline stocks were approximately 6% below average during the week ending Aug. 28, leaving the market with less of a cushion against disruptions in global crude production and refining.
Those conditions have prevented motorists from receiving the typical late-summer price relief that often accompanies declining gasoline demand once the primary vacation and driving season ends.
Federal regulators have taken steps intended to increase gasoline availability as prices remain elevated.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced in August that retailers could begin selling less expensive winter-blend gasoline on Sept. 1, approximately two weeks earlier than normally permitted.
Winter gasoline is generally cheaper to manufacture than the summer formulation required during warmer months to meet air-quality standards. Allowing the transition earlier was intended to increase available supply and reduce some of the pressure on retail gasoline prices.
Whether motorists see a substantial decline will depend heavily on crude oil prices and the availability of global petroleum supplies.
For Labor Day travelers, however, those factors combined to produce a milestone not previously reached: a national gasoline average above $4 per gallon on the holiday, with both gasoline and diesel prices sharply higher than they were one year earlier.
Original article
Comments