If you have been to a gas station recently, you’ve seen the drastic increase in the price of regular, premium, and diesel gas. Within the last few weeks, the price of gas has risen by over a dollar.
As of right now, the average Pennsylvania citizen will pay around 3.953 dollars for regular unleaded gas. This is fairly similar to the 3.977 dollar national average. However, prices begin to differ when you include diesel. The P.A. diesel average is 5.811 dollars compared to the national average of 5.345 dollars displays an almost 50-cent surge.Compared to California, Pennsylvania doesn’t look so bad. AAA.com says that Californians are paying 5.822 at the pump. This is a 1.84 dollar difference, contrasting with the national average.
The price of gas isn’t random. It is a prime example of a side-effect of war.
“the average Pennsylvania citizen will pay around 3.953 dollars for regular unleaded gas
.sno-pullquote-69c69acf51c2b { display: flex; float: left; margin: 30px 30px 30px 0; width: 50%; border-color: #888888; border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; } .sno-pullquote-69c69acf51c2b p.pullquotetext, .sno-pullquote-69c69acf51c2b p.quotespeaker { } .sno-pullquote-69c69acf51c2b .pullquotepic { width: 33%; margin-left: 25px; } .sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-69c69acf51c2b p.pullquotetext { font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.4em; } .sno-pullquote-69c69acf51c2b .quotebar { background: #dddddd; flex: 0 0 90px; margin-top: -15px; margin-left: -15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; } .sno-pullquote-69c69acf51c2b .largequote { color: #888888; } .sno-pullquote-69c69acf51c2b .quotebody { width: unset; }On February 28, Israel and the United States killed the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This sparked the beginning of the war. According to Vox.com, there have been many widespread airstrikes in both Iran and Israel, with over 9,000 targeted areas just in Iran.
The U.S. and Israel have used regional retaliation as well. CBS News has reported that the U.S. is not holding back. So far, they have targeted numerous Iranian technologies. Iranian naval vessels, drone/missile manufacturing sites, and IRGC intelligence sites have all been attacked by the U.S.
Of course, this type of conflict leads to unfortunate consequences we are all familiar with: inflation. In Iran, the conflict regarding the oil supply shipping lane called the Strait of Hormuz caused transportation and energy costs to skyrocket. The numbers demonstrate that oil barrels now cost 119 dollars each.
This is a 30 percent surge in energy costs since mid-February 2026. All in all, although the U.S. is known as a strong power globally and a major energy exporter, they still affected by the oil supply shock. They could be potentially less vulnerable to these shocks than other countries, but from a wide lens, the conflict has caused global markets to become unstable, causing inflation and pressure on the U.S. economy and even more in citizens wallets.