Crude oil hit its highest price in five months on Friday, but drivers have not felt it at the pump yet. Brent futures touched $110 a barrel for the first time since May before closing at $109.86, up 3.7% on the day, CNBC reported. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 3.5% to settle at $101.41, and gained more than 10% over the week.
Gasoline has gone the other way. AAA's national average for regular was $4.3085 a gallon on Saturday, Oct. 17, down from $4.3271 on Friday and $4.3669 a week earlier. That is about 13 cents below the $4.4386 average of a month ago. It is still $1.26 more than drivers paid a year ago, when regular averaged $3.0511.
Why crude jumped this week
The move came as Iran stepped up attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. At least nine tankers and cargo ships have come under attack there since Sunday, CNBC reported, and Iran-allied Houthi militants fired missiles at Saudi Arabia, including one Saudi officials said was headed toward the Yanbu oil export terminal. Crude shipments through Hormuz were running at 9.4 million barrels a day in the week ended Wednesday, about 70% of the prewar average, according to Kpler data cited by CNBC.
Supply at home also tightened. The Energy Information Administration said U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by more than 8 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 9, partly because Hurricane Isaias shut in production on the Gulf Coast. AAA put the drop at 8.6 million barrels, leaving stocks at 415.6 million barrels, 3% below the five-year average.
When AAA published its weekly update on Oct. 15, WTI had settled at $95.09. Its headline then was that gas prices "aren't budging much" while crude stayed high. Crude has added about $6 a barrel since.
AAA national averages, Oct. 17, 2026
| Fuel | Today | Week ago | Month ago | Year ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | $4.31 | $4.37 | $4.44 | $3.05 |
| Mid-grade | $4.83 | $4.88 | $4.93 | $3.56 |
| Premium | $5.22 | $5.28 | $5.32 | $3.91 |
| Diesel | $6.33 | $6.28 | $6.40 | $3.64 |
| E85 | $3.32 | $3.35 | $3.43 | $2.42 |
Source: AAA (gasprices.aaa.com), prices per gallon as of Oct. 17, 2026, rounded to the cent.
Diesel is the bigger worry
Diesel is moving in the opposite direction from gasoline. AAA's average rose to $6.3276 on Saturday, up from $6.2824 a week ago and roughly 74% higher than a year ago. It is about 20 cents below the all-time diesel record of $6.5276 set on Sept. 22, and about $2.02 more per gallon than regular.
That matters well beyond pickup owners. Diesel is essential to moving goods and to farming, so higher prices tend to raise costs across the economy, CNBC noted. Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and attacks on Middle East energy sites have squeezed diesel supply, CNBC reported. On Oct. 15 the International Energy Agency said its members would release more than 20 million barrels of diesel, which CNBC noted equals slightly more than five days of U.S. consumption.
Where gas costs the most and least
Prices still vary by more than $2 a gallon across the country. In AAA's Oct. 15 update, California was the most expensive market at $6.23 for regular, followed by Hawaii at $5.63 and Washington and Nevada at $5.42. North Carolina was the cheapest at $3.70, with Georgia at $3.77 and Texas at $3.83.
The EIA's own weekly survey, which runs on Mondays, showed regular at $4.331 on Oct. 12, down 2.3 cents from the week before, with West Coast drivers paying $5.639 on average and Gulf Coast drivers $3.851. The agency's next update is due Oct. 20.
For now the pump price is the one number that has not followed oil higher. AAA has kept the national average above $4 since late July, and fall usually brings cheaper gas. This year, AAA said, oil-market volatility has instead produced seasonal record highs.
