The month-long break from rising gas prices has come to an end and things are expected to get worse.
On Wednesday, GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan predicted that $4 a gallon gas will be back by next week. National gas prices have already risen 14 cents over the past 10 days as tensions between the U.S. and Iran have reignited. The U.S. struck Iran for the fifth day in a row Wednesday after restarting its naval blockade of Iranian ports on Tuesday.
The last time the average national gas price was above $4 was on June 15, two days before the U.S. and Iran signed a memo of understanding aimed at ending hostilities and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. While oil prices were down slightly Wednesday, Brent crude oil futures are still trading around $84 a barrel, a nearly 17% increase since strikes resumed earlier this month.
Part of what's driving rising pump prices is that while gasoline futures, spot, and wholesale prices have all risen 25 cents since hostilities restarted, "it has not yet reached the street," Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, told Barron's. (Dow Jones is the parent company of both Barron's and OPIS.)
That means that higher gas prices are all but certain in the coming days. "You are likely seeing prices that are in the high $3, low $4 [a gallon] for the rest of the summer," Cinquegrana added, assuming there is no breakthrough between the two countries. "Prices may not decline appreciably until mid-September."
What it doesn't mean, however, is that $5 gas is coming in August. "I'd doubt it based on where we are today," De Haan wrote on X. When gas prices peaked in May at $4.57 a gallon, Brent crude futures were trading at $105 a barrel, more than $20 higher than their current price.
That should offer drivers some measure of relief -- at least for now.
Write to Anita Hamilton at anita.hamilton@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 15, 2026 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)
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