Americans Have Never Paid This Much for Fuel So Late in The Year

42tv}zb2ycf8pbq)yoh)[kv9_media_dl_1.png US Energy Information Administra

Article content

(Bloomberg) — It’s peak driving season in the US, and gasoline and diesel prices have never been this expensive this late in the year.

Article content

Gas and diesel prices are at a record seasonal high, according to data from the American Automobile Association. Drivers are paying an average of $4 a gallon for gas and $5.40 a gallon for diesel in the second week of August for the first time ever. That comes as millions of Americans typically take to the road for vacations and family visits.

Article content

Article content

Article content

At this time last year, gasoline cost $3.20 a gallon and diesel was $3.70 a gallon.

Article content

Article content

There’s little relief on the horizon as both the US war on Iran and the Russia-Ukraine conflict stretch on, crimping global supplies of crude oil and fuel from those major producing regions. 

Article content

The US Department of Energy forecasts that gasoline will cost an average of $4 a gallon this quarter and then will drop to $3.72 in the fourth quarter, a figure well-above seasonal norms. For diesel, the lifeblood of trucking and the industrial economy, the price per gallon will fall just shy of $5 by the end of the year. Those forecasts mark a major revision upwards from a month ago.

Article content

Meanwhile, gasoline inventories in the US are at the lowest level since November 2025, according to government data released Wednesday. In regions like New York and New Jersey, they’re at the lowest level since November 2024.

Article content

American drivers travel some three trillion miles annually in cars and trucks, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data. Soaring fuel costs are likely to be a key issue for both drives and politicians in the back half of the year. 

Article content

Article content

Gasoline demand wanes after the peak summer months of travel, and fuel makers — who have been raking in massive profits to meet global demand — are set to maximize diesel production to replace lost supply. That may mean a ceiling is kept on gasoline inventories as refineries make less of that road fuel, leading to sustained higher prices. 

Article content

Those factors come as Americans head to polls in November for mid-term elections while watching one of the most visible costs of living pressures emblazoned above gas station forecourts.

Article content

To be sure, fuel prices are below the war-time peaks reached earlier in the year that also fell short of historic price spikes in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. US inflation data released Wednesday for the month of July was also subdued, showing energy and gasoline prices falling for the second consecutive month as more oil made it out of the Persian Gulf during a collapsed US-Iran ceasefire. 

Article content