Think NC gas prices are high? Be glad that you aren’t buying diesel
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- NC regular gas rose 50¢ per gallon since March 1 to an average of $3.27.
- Diesel jumped $1.15 to $4.69, driven by heating oil demand and winter supply strains.
- Analysts warn Iran conflict and Strait of Hormuz disruption will push prices higher.
North Carolina drivers are spending more to fill their gas tanks since the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran last weekend. That’s especially true if they’re buying diesel fuel.
The average cost of regular gas in North Carolina has risen 50 cents a gallon since March 1, to $3.27, according to AAA.
But the cost of a gallon of diesel is up $1.15 during that time, to $4.69. Demand for heating oil affects diesel-fuel supplies and prices, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, and a hard winter in the Northeast has reduced supplies.
Analysts expect prices will continue to rise with growing uncertainty over world oil supplies. The war has brought shipping traffic to a halt through the Strait of Hormuz, the passage in and out of the Persian Gulf on Iran’s southern border where 20% of the world’s oil supply moves by ship.
Traders are increasingly concerned about the possibility of supply disruptions, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at the website GasBuddy.com.
“While oil markets have been volatile for months, the developments over the past several days — including escalating attacks and retaliatory strikes — have rapidly shifted sentiment and forced traders to price in the possibility of a wider conflict,” De Haan wrote Sunday. “Unfortunately, little positive news emerged over the weekend, meaning when energy markets fully reopen Monday, the sharp rise in oil prices is likely to quickly translate into higher wholesale fuel prices across the U.S.”
With national prices now roughly 50 cents higher than a week ago, U.S. drivers are spending about $187 million more per day on fuel than they were before the war started, De Haan wrote.
Gas prices had already begun to inch up ahead of the summer driving season, when demand increases and refineries switch to more expensive formulas that produce less pollution. The average price of a gallon of regular in North Carolina rose about a dime between early January and the end of February.
Monday morning’s average price in North Carolina was the highest since the summer of 2024. Diesel prices in the state haven’t been this high since January 2023.
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 10:35 AM.
