It’s a familiar situation for Oregonians: A global event causes the price of oil — the main component of gasoline — to surge.

Then, the price at the pump goes up across the nation. But in Oregon? The price is already higher for a gallon of regular gasoline.

The U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran is the latest international event to spark the cycle.

Over the last month, gas prices have spiked. A month ago, the U.S. average was just under $3.00 per gallon, while the average in Oregon hovered around $3.65, according to AAA.

The national average for gasoline Monday is $3.71 per gallon, but Oregonians are paying an average of $4.48 for a gallon of regular gas, according to the nonprofit member club American Automobile Association (AAA). That’s the fifth highest in the nation after California, Hawaii, Washington and Nevada.

At least in the short term, the high price of crude oil is increasing gasoline prices. That’s happening at the same time that many gas stations in the U.S. are switching over to the more expensive summer blend gasoline. Over the long term, Oregon frequently has higher gas prices than other states due to high taxes, lack of refineries that turn oil into gasoline and environmental policies that deter increased gasoline production in the region.

It’s impossible to divorce the price of gasoline from the price of crude oil, gasoline’s main component. Even though the U.S. is the world’s top oil producer, much of that oil is exported and becomes a part of the global energy market. Oil is a highly sought-after international commodity, with the price and distribution largely dictated by the global market.

When Iran retaliated against U.S. and Israeli bombings by closing a major oil trade route, the Strait of Hormuz, it shrunk the available global supply of oil. Buyers that normally purchase oil that travels through the strait are looking for other sources. Those shifts in supply and demand are helping drive up the price of crude oil around the globe.

“We’re not seeing a [crude oil] shortage, but we are seeing our friends in Asia and Europe knock on the door for additional supplies from us,” Robert McCullough, Portland energy expert and consultant, said. “And as they do that, of course, the big players on the West Coast are raising their prices domestically to match their opportunities internationally.”

Something similar happened after Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago, McCullough said, pushing prices up to multi-year highs for everything from food to fuel to construction equipment.

“Oil is used throughout the economy,” McCullough said. “We make everything out of it. The things that will be most immediately apparent are fertilizer, heavy transport, jet fuel, retail gasoline — but each one of those then reverberates. It’s like you rang a bell and it goes ‘bing bing bing bing bing’ afterwards.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/16/with-gas-prices-rising-oregon-drivers-are-paying-some-of-the-highest-prices-in-the-country/