Price of gas is up in Washington, US. Here's why drivers may get a break soon

The pain at the pump is real.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the United States was $3.268 on April 4, up more than 10 cents from the previous week, according to AAA, the national motoring association.

In Washington state, gas prices were higher than the national average. The average price for a gallon of regular was $4.359 on April 4, up more than 20 cents from a week ago. In the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett metro area, the average price for a gallon of regular was $4.524.

Why are gas prices going up?

Some factors driving the increase in gas prices are "refinery maintenance and summer-blend gasoline switch," Aixa Diaz, a spokesperson for AAA, said in an April 3 news release.

Gas sold in the summer needs to be less likely to evaporate on hot days to comply with environmental regulations, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

"This requirement means that refiners must replace cheaper – but more evaporative – gasoline components with less evaporative but more expensive components," the U.S. Energy Information Administration website states.

This is partly why gas tends to be cheaper in the winter months. From 2004 through 2023, the average monthly price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. was roughly 40 cents higher in August than in January, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Gas prices are also influenced by crude oil prices, which are "driven by global supply and demand," according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Euronews reported that crude oil prices dropped 6% in the wake of President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement on April 2, and key members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, "agreed to increase their joint oil output" in May.

This could contribute to lower prices at the pump, said Patrick De Haan, an oil industry analyst with GasBuddy, in an April 4 X post.

"National average price of gasoline $3.26/gal this morning via GasBuddy data – 33.6c lower than a year ago," De Haan wrote on X. "Price increases should halt in the next day or so before decreases from the decent plummet in oil re: tariffs start sending prices back down. Plenty of volatility."

According to AAA, the current national average for the price of a gallon of regular gas is still lower than a year ago, when it was around $3.56 on April 4, 2024.

Where is gas the most expensive?

Here are the top 10 most expensive gas markets as of April 3, according to AAA:

1. California ($4.91)
2. Hawaii ($4.52)
3. Washington state ($4.30)
4. Nevada ($3.99)
5. Oregon ($3.93)
6. Alaska ($3.53)
7. Illinois ($3.52)
8. Arizona ($3.42)
9. Idaho ($3.38)
10. Pennsylvania ($3.37)

Where is gas the cheapest?

Here are the top 10 least expensive gas markets as of April 3, according to AAA:

1. Mississippi ($2.74)
2. Tennessee ($2.80)
3. Oklahoma ($2.81)
4. Louisiana ($2.82)
5. Alabama ($2.85)
6. Texas ($2.87)
7. Arkansas ($2.87)
8. Kansas ($2.87)
9. South Carolina ($2.87)
10. Kentucky ($2.89)