US Gas Prices & Spirit Airlines Status — State-by-State Tracker

Update, 17 October. AAA's national regular average was $4.3271 on 16 October, 15 cents below its 28 September $4.48 and about 4 cents below the 5 October read of $4.370. National diesel was about $6.33 (AAA, 16 October), 20 cents under the 22 September record. The EIA's own weekly series for 5 October had regular at $4.354 and on-highway diesel at $6.199; the EIA and AAA series differ in method and timing, and GEF does not blend them. The state spread (AAA, 11 October): Georgia ($3.81) and Texas ($3.82) cheapest, California ($6.31) dearest. The next EIA petroleum report is Wednesday 21 October.

Update, 5 October. The US fuel story this autumn is still diesel. The AAA national average reached a record $6.5276 a gallon on 22 September and stood at $6.302 on 7 October after the G7 100 Mbbl diesel+crude release on 2 October; the previous record, $5.8159, dated from June 2022. Regular gasoline is $4.333, down about 3 cents on the week. The spread between the two — about two dollars a gallon — is the clearest sign that the constraint is refined product, not crude.

The barrel is splitting. In the EIA’s week to 9 October, commercial crude stocks drew 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million, far more than expected and about 3% below their five-year average, while distillate fell 2.5 million barrels to 102.6 million, about 12% below its five-year average, and gasoline rose 3.5 million. Refiners tilted toward jet fuel when aviation margins led, and the global diesel pool has lost Russian and Gulf supply at the same time as harvest demand and the heating season arrive. The EIA projects distillate stays below its five-year low through much of 2027.

Policy has entered the price. On 23 September the White House denied a reported 90-day ban on US diesel exports; Energy Secretary Chris Wright said nobody was considering a flat ban but voluntary measures had been discussed. The US is the world’s largest diesel exporter, so the question matters abroad: Europe and Latin America rely on US cargoes to replace Russian and Gulf product.

The global backdrop. The Strait of Hormuz is on Day 233 and rated CRITICAL after at least thirteen vessel strikes since 1 October (Kazimah III, Uhud, Lipsi, a drone-funnel strike, On Peace on 6 October Acers off Qatar on 7 October, a laden VLCC off the UAE on 9 October, and UKMTO's six ships struck on 11 October, five in the strait and one by drone at Sohar, Oman). Trump rejected a renewed Iranian proposal around 1 October; US officials signal airstrikes probable after the November midterms (Axios). The G7 released 100 Mbbl of diesel and crude through the IEA on 2 October. Brent settled $109.86 on Friday 16 October and WTI $101.41 — a spread of about $8.45 that reflects ample North American crude against a tight world market. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve stands at 283.0 million barrels, the lowest since 1982, after about 132 million barrels were drawn since the war began.

Supply at the pump is intact. GEF has found no confirmed physical outages. Social-media reports of stations out of diesel in North Texas and Orlando on 17 September were reviewed and not confirmed, and GasBuddy said its own data showed no high-level outages. A red pin needs confirmed physical unavailability; record prices alone do not meet that bar.

AAA average retail prices for regular gasoline and diesel, 11 October 2026 (national diesel about $6.20 as reported by Al Jazeera). The highest-priced states, the lowest, and a selection between. State differences reflect fuel taxes, refining geography and, in California, the CARBOB blend; the Midwest diesel premium reflects harvest demand meeting a short distillate market.

US aviation absorbed the jet-fuel shock earlier in the year and the acute phase has passed, but the cost has not. Legacy carriers (American, Delta, United) went into 2026 typically 30–50% hedged and have operated to schedule; JetBlue, which exited fuel hedging in December 2024, and Frontier both suspended full-year guidance in the spring. GEF has not re-verified carrier guidance or the IATA jet fuel benchmark since the summer, and does not restate old figures as current.

Spirit Airlines completed its wind-down in May after its restructuring plan, built on jet fuel at $2.24 a gallon, met fuel near $4.53. About 1.8 million May seats were cancelled and 17,000 jobs lost. JetBlue, Frontier, Breeze and others have backfilled its Fort Lauderdale network, and GEF now carries Spirit as a record of the crisis rather than a live disruption.

Cross-border routes: Air Canada’s Toronto–JFK and Montréal–JFK suspensions run on the published schedule to 25 October. Norse Atlantic’s Los Angeles–Europe withdrawal covered the summer 2026 season.

The proximate cause of every energy-flow story in 2026 is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and a large share of refined-product trade passed before 28 February. Independent trackers put current flows at 3.7–8 million barrels a day, roughly half of pre-war or less.

The United States is one of the best-insulated advanced economies. The Gulf Coast refining cluster in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi produces more refined product than the country consumes, and the US is a net exporter of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. That is why there is no US availability problem while Europe, parts of Asia and Australia see tightness.

The exposure is to price. US refiners can sell abroad, so domestic wholesale prices follow global benchmarks. With Russian refining under drone attack and Gulf product constrained, the global diesel market is short, and US diesel follows it up even as US crude stocks build. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, drawn under the March IEA-coordinated release, is at its lowest since 1982 and is no longer a large buffer.

If you drive a diesel vehicle or run a diesel-dependent business, the price gap between states is large: $5.68 a gallon in Texas against $6.64 in Indiana and $8.39 in California (AAA, 11 October). Fuel before crossing into high-price states where your route allows.

If you are driving long distances, regular gasoline ranges from $3.94 in Indiana to $6.29 in California. On a 1,000-mile trip in a 25-mpg car, that spread is about $94. GasBuddy and AAA show station-level prices; differences of 50 cents a gallon within one metro area are common.

If you are flying, US carriers are operating to schedule with fuel costs built into fares. Air Canada’s JFK suspensions from Toronto and Montréal run to 25 October.

If you are travelling abroad, fuel conditions vary widely: France has had localised forecourt shortages concentrated in one retail network; Australia and the UK face record or near-record diesel prices without shortages. See EU · UK · Canada · Australia.