LOS ANGELES - At a Chevron station where the gas pump displayed a $6.49 cash price, Veronica Cervantes, 54, of Compton, listed the sacrifices she’s made to afford the skyrocketing gasoline over the last two months. “I don’t go out as much as I did. When I go places nearby, I go walking. I don’t shop,” she said in Spanish on Thursday. “I go once a month to Tijuana, to see my family. My mom, my dad, my brother. I used to go up to three times a month.” Cervantes, who cleans homes for a living, put back her nozzle.
Frustrations over high gas prices are escalating as the United States’ war in Iran presses on. The average price of regular gas in the U.S. hit $4.30 a gallon on Thursday, up 27 cents from a week prior, according to AAA. A new high since the war began, the price was up $1.12 a gallon from this point last year. At the station where Cervantes pumped, credit card users paid $6.59 a gallon for regular unleaded. One LA station reached $8.71 a gallon. California’s average gas prices surpassed $6 a gallon, making it the standout on AAA’s map.
“The biggest driver of the high price of gasoline right now is the war,” said Severin Borenstein, a professor at UC Berkeley. “Every $1 per barrel increase in the price of crude oil translates to two-and-a-half cents at the pump.” Iran’s major response to U.S. and Israeli bombing has been to block shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil passes. “The blockage has raised prices in the world oil market, and that’s affecting everyone,” Borenstein added. The war has cost Americans more than $29 billion since Feb. 28, according to Brown University’s Watson School. “If you tell me when the war is going to be over, I can tell you when the price is going to go down,” Borenstein said.
Alfred Estrella, 43, pulled up after Cervantes and was not happy. “This is crazy,” he said, seeing the $6.49 price. “It wasn’t like that yesterday. Not even close.” Estrella, who works in dialysis, drives about 85 miles round trip on work days. Drivers are dropping $70 to $80 to fill up. Environmental groups like Sierra Club California blame the Trump administration’s hindrance of clean energy shifts. “For Californians already paying some of the highest gas prices, this administration is making the problem worse,” said director Miguel Miguel. Labor unions, including the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, argue the war should encourage in-state production until we quit fossil fuels.
Borenstein noted that California’s high prices aren’t solely due to the war: an excise tax, state environmental fees, cleaner-burning gasoline, and a “mystery gasoline surcharge” since 2015 also play roles. In Mono County, the highest average in California, gas hit $6.97 a gallon on Friday. Supervisor Jennifer Kreitz said, “It’s part of the local culture. Almost like, this is what we deal with.” A nearby station reached $7.19. The county, rural with about 13,000 people over 3,000 square miles, sells less gas per pump. Kreitz’s advice: “Fill up in Nevada before you come home.”