Did gas prices go up in MD amid Iran strikes?

Oil prices soared this week amid President Donald Trump‘s push for military strikes in Iran, which disrupted oil flows overseas and fueled the surge of US crude oil and global oil prices Monday.

The stock market today tumbled — the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq today fell hard — amid Tuesday’s oil prices surge, leading Americans and Marylanders potentially paying more at the pump.

Brent crude oil, the global benchmark for oil prices, jumped by 10% to hit $82 a barrel before falling slightly on Monday, around 7%. WTI crude oil prices traded sharply higher, as did TTF, the Dutch/European gas benchmark, according to MarketWatch. The threat of a new natural gas crisis Monday comes after Iran has warned vessels not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway it controls in the south of the country, through which about 20% of the world’s oil and gas is shipped.

The attacks on Iran sent gas prices soaring, with Americans likely seeing gas prices going up in the coming days due to crude oil prices soaring, pushing gas prices higher by nearly $5 per barrel. According to AAA, U.S. gas prices for a gallon of regular gas rose above $3 Tuesday before rising again Wednesday, to about $3.20. That’s up from about $2.95 a week ago.

While it’s too soon to tell how high gas prices will rise, gas prices in Maryland averaged $3.12 per gallon of gas Wednesday, up from $3.06 Tuesday and $2.98 a week prior, according to AAA. Here’s the average gas prices across Maryland on Wednesday, according to AAA:

• Annapolis: $3.10
• Baltimore: $3.10
• Cumberland: $3.23
• Frederick: $3.14
• Hagerstown: $3.17
• Salisbury: $3.08
• Washington (Maryland jurisdictions only): $3.16

Experts say gas prices are expected to rise 5 to 10 cents a day for at least some time, with WTI crude oil — the benchmark used for U.S. oil — up 8% Monday, on-pace for the biggest one-day gain since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Gulf Oil adviser Tom Kloza told CNN a number of companies were raising their wholesale prices for gasoline by 25 cents a gallon.

The Iranian conflict and threat of a natural gas crisis sent oil prices soaring March 2, with WTI crude oil prices and Brent crude futures soaring by 10%, to nearly $82 a barrel at its peak this morning. TTF, the European gas benchmark, surged nearly 50% — the most in four years, per Financial Times — with oil prices rising about 9% overall to around $80 a barrel due to the halt of shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Asian gas prices also surged due to the loss of supplies from QatarEnergy, the world’s largest liquified natural gas (LNG) that halted production after Iran drone strikes, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Maryland’s highest gas prices ever recorded was on June 13, 2022, when the price at the pump was $4.881 — with the cost of a barrel of oil over $120.

Lori Comstock is a New Jersey-based journalist with the USA TODAY NETWORK Mid-Atlantic Connect Team.

This story was updated to reflect Wednesday prices.