Gas Price Explainers
Each explainer answers one question about gasoline prices, using the EIA figures on this site and citing named sources for the causes.
For the price you see today, start with why prices are rising in 2026, which ties the current national average to crude oil and refinery events this year. Why California’s gas is expensive covers the state’s taxes, fees, fuel rules and refinery supply, and why diesel costs more than gasoline covers distillate demand and diesel taxes.
Two explainers cover the mechanics behind price moves: the crack spread (the gap between crude oil and refined gasoline prices) and the switch between summer and winter gasoline blends each spring and fall. The last asks how much a president can affect gas prices, and compares the national average across presidential terms with what moved it.
- Gas prices · Seasonality
Why gas prices rise every summer: summer and winter blends
In our weekly data since 2000, the national average has risen from a winter low into a spring/summer peak in 25 of 26 years. Here's the seasonal pattern our prices show — and the well-documented reasons, from summer-blend fuel rules to refinery maintenance and driving-season demand.
- Gas prices · Refining
What is a crack spread? (And why it affects gas prices)
The crack spread is the gap between the price of crude oil and the fuels refined from it, a measure of refining margins. What it is and how it moves pump prices.
- Gas prices · Diesel
Why does diesel cost more than gasoline?
Diesel costs more per gallon than regular gasoline, but it was the cheaper fuel until the mid-2000s. What the weekly data shows about the switch, and the documented reasons for the gap.
- Gas prices · Politics
Does the President control gas prices?
Prices have risen and fallen under presidents of both parties since 1970. Here's what our data shows across administrations — and what non-partisan sources say a president can and can't actually do.
- Gas prices · California
Why is California's gas so expensive?
California's pump price has run above the U.S. average in all but a handful of weeks since 2000. Here's what our data shows about that gap — and the well-documented reasons behind it.
- Gas prices · 2026
Why are gas prices rising in 2026?
The U.S. average price of gasoline rose sharply in 2026. Here is what EIA's monthly price data shows, and what reputable reporting says is driving the rise.
How the explainers fit together
The explainers are shorter than the guides and each takes one question as its title. They fall into three groups. The first is about the price level right now: the 2026 piece ties this year’s movement to crude oil and refinery events.
The second group is about why one fuel or one place costs more than another. The California piece separates the state’s taxes, its own gasoline specification and its limited refinery supply. The diesel piece does the same for the gap between diesel and gasoline, which depends on demand for distillates and on higher diesel taxes.
The third group covers mechanisms. The crack spread is the margin between crude oil and refined gasoline, and it explains much of the price movement that crude alone does not. The summer and winter blend piece covers the switch in gasoline specifications each spring and fall. The piece on presidents compares the national average across terms and names the events that moved it.
For scale, the national annual average for regular was $3.95 in 2022, the highest of any year in nominal terms, and $3.10 in 2025. The presidents piece works from the same national series, so its term averages can be read against those two figures.
Figures in this section are computed from U.S. Energy Information Administration data in the US Gas Gauge database.