Fuel Prices Rise, Ending 7-Week Streak of Declines

GasBuddy said U.S. fuel prices still have a slight window to retreat before suppliers start making more expensive summer blends.

A man puts gas in his vehicle at a gas station in Elkridge, Md., on Nov. 12, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The average price for a gallon of gas ticked upward last week following seven straight weeks of declines and now stands at $2.76, price comparison app GasBuddy said on Jan. 19.

The modest $0.03 increase is still down more than $0.08 from December prices and is $0.32 lower than January 2025 prices, GasBuddy said. The average price of diesel fuel, meanwhile, dipped by a penny to $3.46 per gallon.

Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, said U.S. fuel prices still have a slight window to retreat again before suppliers start making more expensive summer blends that contain fewer evaporative ingredients.

“That window will begin to close soon,” De Haan said.

“California will start transitioning back to cleaner summer gasoline, with most of the rest of the country following in a little over a month,” he said. “However, with a surplus of winter gasoline built up after large inventory increases in recent weeks, we’re likely to see localized discounts as that fuel is cleared from the system before the seasonal rise becomes more organized in the weeks ahead.”

Oil inventories rose by 3.4 million barrels for the week ending Jan. 9, but are still about 3 percent lower than seasonal averages, GasBuddy noted. Gasoline inventories jumped by 9 million barrels for the same time frame and are roughly 4 percent higher than five-year seasonal averages.

Geopolitical tensions continue to shape global oil prices.

President Donald Trump last week softened his stance on potential military intervention in Iran with a post on his Truth Social account that acknowledged Iranian leaders for canceling more than 800 scheduled executions of protesters.

Iran has the world’s fourth-largest supply of oil and produced more than 3.1 million barrels of crude oil per day in December 2025, most of which went to China, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said.

Global Brent crude oil futures topped $64 per barrel on Jan 19, retreating from a 2026 high of nearly $67 per barrel on Jan. 14. The price of WTI crude briefly brushed past $60 per barrel on Jan. 16 but has retreated slightly and stood at $59.42 on Jan. 19.

Prices at the pump vary greatly by region and demand. GasBuddy tracked more than 12 million transactions at over 150,000 stations, and the top 10 percent of gas stations sold fuel at $3.88 per gallon. The bottom 10 percent, however, sold fuel at less than $2.30 per gallon.

Average gasoline prices were lowest in Oklahoma, at $2.29 per gallon, followed by Texas and Louisiana, at $2.37. Prices were highest in Hawaii, at $4.34 per gallon, followed by California, at $4.13, and Washington, at $3.75.

Diesel fuel prices were less than $3 a gallon in Oklahoma and Colorado, with Texas coming in at $3.01. Diesel was most expensive in Hawaii ($5.12), California ($4.81), and Washington ($4.55).