Is this the most expensive gas has been? Why are the prices so high?

The actual record

In nominal terms, meaning the raw dollar figure you see on the sign, the all-time national high was set in June 2022 at $5.01 per gallon, per EIA (the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the federal agency that tracks fuel data).

Wait, no dashes. Let me rewrite.

In nominal terms, meaning the raw dollar figure on the sign, the all-time national high was set in June 2022 at $5.01 per gallon, according to the EIA. What we are seeing now, a national average around $4.32 to $4.44, is painful but still a dollar below that peak.

Adjust for inflation and the picture shifts further. Once you convert every year's prices into today's dollars, the real all-time high was June 2008, equivalent to roughly $5.70 per gallon in 2026 money. That was driven by a global demand surge before the financial crisis hit. So in terms of actual purchasing power, what you are paying now is high but not historically extreme.

There is one caveat worth knowing.

Actually, one nuance worth knowing: prices did briefly spike past the 2022 nominal record this spring. The national average touched around $5.12 in March 2026 before pulling back, which means for a few weeks this year the pump price technically did set a new all-time high in raw dollar terms.

Why prices are so high right now

The root cause is a single geopolitical event: the 2026 conflict involving Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20% of the world's traded oil passes every day. When Iran disrupted it beginning in early 2026, a fifth of global oil supply was effectively squeezed off the market almost overnight.

Crude oil makes up about 57% of the retail price of a gallon of gasoline, so when crude jumps, the pump price follows directly. The national average went from $2.81 in January to $4.48 by May, a nearly 60% increase in four months. A fragile ceasefire has brought some relief since then, but prices remain elevated because getting production fully back online takes time even after a deal holds.

On top of the crude price, refinery margins have also widened. Refineries are the facilities that convert crude oil into actual gasoline, and when they run at high capacity or face supply uncertainty, the spread between what they pay for crude and what they charge for gasoline increases. That adds another layer of cost above the crude price itself.

State taxes and fuel-blend rules, as covered in the earlier answer, explain why California stays $1.50 to $2.00 above the national average even when the underlying crude shock is the same everywhere. The shock hits all states, but it lands harder where the base costs were already high.

The EIA's September 2026 forecast projects the national average easing toward $3.84 for the full year and dropping further in 2027, but only if oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz resume. That is the single biggest variable right now.