From PhillyVoice · · 1m 50s
Philly gas hits $4.50 a gallon
Middle East fighting has pushed Philadelphia pump prices into record September territory, with no relief in sight before November.
In brief
Middle East fighting has pushed Philadelphia pump prices into record September territory, with no relief in sight before November. Philly drivers are paying about $1.17 more per gallon than a year ago, and the pressure is coming from two shipping chokepoints thousands of miles away. Originally reported by PhillyVoice.
Philly crosses $4.50
The average gallon of regular gas in Philadelphia hit $4.50 on Thursday, up from $4.33 a week earlier and $4.11 a month ago.
No post-Labor Day dip
Prices usually ease once summer travel ends. This year they kept climbing right through the calendar shift.
“continuing an upward trend despite a typical dip after Labor Day”
Statewide and suburbs too
Pennsylvania's average reached $4.45, up from $4.29 a week ago. The collar counties all sat between $4.47 and $4.49.
A dollar more than last year
Last September the average was $3.37 in Pennsylvania and $3.33 in Philly. The national average has jumped from $3.19 to $4.27 in twelve months.
Crude broke $100
Oil crossed $100 per barrel this week, dragging pump prices into record territory for the month of September.
Two chokepoints, one squeeze
Pressure started at the Strait of Hormuz and has spread to the Bab al-Mandab Strait off Yemen, closing off the alternative export route.
Houthis take Mocha
Iran-backed Houthi rebels reached the strategic Red Sea port of Mocha and hit oil and civilian sites in Saudi Arabia, adding more upward pressure.
A midterm problem
Trump sits at 32% approval in a Focaldata/Financial Times poll and says the war will not end before November's elections.
“I think (the) war is going to end immediately after the election because they can't hold out any longer.”
West Coast pays far more
California averages $5.90 a gallon and Washington $5.54, with Nevada and Oregon both above $5. New Jersey sits at $4.36.
Highest since 2022
These are the steepest U.S. gas prices since the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war, when the national average peaked at $5.02 in June 2022.
What to remember
Philly drivers are paying about $1.17 more per gallon than a year ago, and the pressure is coming from two shipping chokepoints thousands of miles away.
