Americans are heading into the Labor Day weekend facing the highest petrol prices ever recorded for the holiday, with diesel breaching an all-time high on Friday as the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran continues to ripple through fuel markets.
The national average for diesel climbed to $5.85 a gallon on Friday, eclipsing the previous record of $5.81 set in June 2022, according to AAA data cited by CNN. Regular petrol reached almost $4.15 a gallon the same day, up roughly six cents from a week earlier, with AAA confirming that prices have never topped $4 a gallon over the Labor Day weekend before.
Labor Day: How High Have Prices Climbed?
Diesel has surged more than 60 percent so far this year, putting it on track for its biggest annual increase on record, according to a CNN review of AAA data stretching back to 2000. “Even though gasoline demand decreases this time of year, typically bringing down gas prices, this year is different due to the high cost of crude oil,” AAA said in a report cited by CBS News.
Labor Day: Why Is Diesel Driving More Concern Than Petrol?
While petrol tends to draw the most public attention because of its direct impact on drivers, analysts say diesel’s rise poses a broader economic threat. Diesel powers trucks, trains, tractors, boats and construction machinery that underpin much of the US economy, meaning higher costs are quickly passed down the supply chain. “Gasoline is the sexy, visible fuel.
Diesel is the silent workhorse,” Bob McNally, founder and president of Rapidan Energy Group, told CNN. Susan Bell, senior vice president of downstream research at Rystad Energy, said the effect would be felt well beyond the pump, telling CBS News, “the everyday consumer will see higher diesel prices in the consumer goods they purchase.”
Labor Day: What Is Fuelling The Price Surge?
The spike is being driven largely by disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes, as fighting between the United States and Iran continues to restrict tanker traffic. Shipping data firm Lloyd’s recorded 102 vessels transiting the strait last week, down from 126 the previous week and well below the roughly 130 tankers a day that passed through before the war began, according to CBS News. Brent crude was trading at $95.55 a barrel on Thursday, with the US benchmark near $91.50.
Labor Day: How Has The Trump Administration Responded?
Facing mounting political pressure ahead of the midterms, Trump this week summoned oil refining executives to the White House to discuss boosting capacity and announced a deal with Venezuela aimed at securing access to an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.
Energy experts caution, however, that any new supply from Venezuela could take years to meaningfully affect US fuel prices. Vice President JD Vance defended the administration’s handling of the crisis on Thursday, telling reporters that petrol prices “could have been much, much higher were it not for our efforts,” while declining to say when relief might come.
Labor Day: What Are Critics Saying?
Democratic lawmakers have seized on the price surge to criticise the administration’s economic record. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii wrote on social media that rising costs were not accidental, arguing that “it is not just that the prices are going up,” pointing instead to tariffs and the Iran war as deliberate drivers of higher living costs, according to Raw Story.
Labor Day: How Much Is This Costing Households?
The financial toll is already measurable. Since the Iran war began, higher petrol and diesel prices have cost American households more than $741 on average, according to a tracker maintained by Brown University and cited by CBS News. With crude oil accounting for roughly half the cost of a gallon of petrol, according to the US Energy Information Administration, analysts say prices are unlikely to ease meaningfully until shipping through the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal.
