U.S. Gas Prices Rise to $4.46 per Gallon Amid Oil Futures Increase

Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway, said that for the company to issue such policies, the U.S. Navy would need to escort the ships, but no action had occurred yet.

As the war continues, U.S. consumers are spending about $1 billion more per day on higher fuel costs than before the war began, according to oil industry analyst Andy Lipow. Of that amount, $550 million stems from gas prices, with the rest from increases in jet fuel, diesel, and other energy products.

Jet fuel prices have risen about 65% since the war started, based on data from the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index. To address supply disruptions from the Middle East, strategic petroleum reserve releases and commercial inventories have been used, Lipow wrote in a note.

In the U.S., gasoline inventories are down 14% and diesel inventories down 17% since early February. Lipow noted that the oil market is responding to these changes, leading to higher prices, and warned that $4.50 per gallon gasoline is approaching, with $5.00 possible if the strait remains closed another month.

Prices have risen most in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan since the war began, per data compiled by NBC News. Georgia, Hawaii, Delaware, and Minnesota saw the smallest increases, though still over $1.10 per gallon. In California, prices averaged $6.11 per gallon on Monday, the highest in the nation, due to state taxes, fees, environmental requirements, special fuel needs, and isolated markets, according to the EIA.

Georgia had the lowest at $3.86 per gallon. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in a Fox News Channel interview on Monday that officials recognize the short-term price increase is affecting Americans, but expressed confidence that prices would decrease quickly afterward.

He added that corporate earnings and employment remain strong, and described the situation as a temporary aberration likely to end in weeks or a month.