Overall from March 2-9, Ohio saw the fifth-most average gas price increase at 54.9 cents to about $3.438 per gallon, with Florida topping the list at 61.3 cents increase to about $3.526 per gallon.
When it comes to diesel, neither Dayton or Cincinnati ranked in the top 50 metro areas, but Springfield still came in at number 22 with a $1.223 increase to an average of $4.887 per gallon of diesel.
For diesel fuel, Ohio saw the 13th-largest increase from March 2-9 at an average rise of 91.4 cents to around $4.741 per gallon.
All of those increases sail over the national gasoline price increase of 51.1 cents from March 2-9, though prices remained near the national average of $3.45 per gallon. The same could not be said for diesel fuel, which nationally rose an average of 85.9 cents to an average of $4.599 per gallon.
GasBuddy head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan called the price increase a “surge at one of the fastest rates in years,” following the U.S. strikes on Iran and the effective closing of the Strait of Hormuz. He added that additional attacks across the Middle East over the weekend pushed oil prices up above $100 per barrel, also for the first time in years.
Now, De Haan said, fuel markets are rapidly recalibrating for the risk of prolonged disruption to global oil supply flows, and as a result gas prices could climb another 20 to 50 cents per gallon this week, with diesel prices rising 35 to 75 cents per gallon. In price-cycling markets, which includes Ohio, that increase could occur as early as Monday.
Going forward, circumstances around the conflict with Iran are likely to stay the main driver of oil and gasoline prices, particularly any threat to regional production or shipping.
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