Gas prices approach highest level this year with just weeks to go before midterms

Add to Google Diesel prices surge to record high: What it means for consumers Get more newsLiveon Add NBC News to Google Sept. 18, 2026, AM EDT U. S. gas prices approached their highest level of the year Friday, after the national average rose another 3 cents overnight. The nationwide average price is $4.46 per gallon. Friday’s price sits just 10 cents below the highest level hit earlier this year, on May 21, when the national average was $4.56 per gallon. Gas prices are also once again within striking distance of their all-time highest level of $5.01, which was hit in June 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. Already, at least six states have average gas prices above $5. California has the highest in the nation, at $6.11 per gallon. A handful of other states, such as Michigan, Utah and Illinois, were on the cusp of hitting $5 Friday. Gas prices overall have risen 50% nationwide since the U. S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. At the same time, the price of diesel has been registering new daily all-time highs since it first breached $6 per gallon Sept. 11. The national average diesel price was $6.44 on Friday, after rising 5 cents overnight. The price per gallon of the commercial fuel has risen 71% since the start of the Iran war. Rising diesel prices can translate into higher costs for consumers . The global shipping, rail and trucking industries all rely on diesel. On Friday morning, shipping conglomerate CMA CGM announced that it was imposing “a new emergency fuel surcharge.” “The renewed escalation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb has pushed fuel prices sharply higher,” the company said in a statement. A political crisis For months, the Trump administration has claimed that fuel prices will drop sharply as soon as the war is over. But more recently, the president has begun conceding that it may take much longer than that for global energy costs to come back down. “Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” President Donald Trump said Sept. 9. With less than eight weeks left before the U. S. midterm elections, frustration over prices is building among consumers. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey recently dropped sharply on inflation concerns. And on some parts of social media, Americans — even some who claim to have supported Trump — are sharing their frustration with high gas prices. Trump has also claimed that his administration will be able to push gas prices below $2 per gallon.