{"id":2601048,"date":"2026-05-11T05:51:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gas-prices-slight-decreases-at-the-pumps-to-begin-the-week\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T05:54:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:54:40","slug":"gas-prices-slight-decreases-at-the-pumps-to-begin-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gas-prices-slight-decreases-at-the-pumps-to-begin-the-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Gas prices: Slight decreases at the pumps to begin the week"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgas-prices-slight-decreases-at-the-pumps-to-begin-the-week%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2601048&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Regular gas prices dipped slightly on Monday, with the U.S. national average falling to **$4.52 per gallon**-still higher than a month ago and about a week earlier, but a bit cheaper than the weekend. After rising daily for more than two weeks before Monday, the article notes that **2026 prices have been highly volatile**, increasing from a five-year low of **$2.79** in mid-January to around **$4.02** by March 31, and peaking earlier in April at **$4.16**.<\/p>\n<p>It also links the broader rise in fuel costs to **disruptions tied to winter weather early in the year** and then to the **start of the Iran war**, which manny Democrats argue has contributed to persistently higher gas prices. During an interview, Energy Secretary **Chris Wright** was asked about the possibility of gas reaching **$5 per gallon**, but he avoided specific predictions, instead emphasizing the geopolitical threat posed by Iran and stating the U.S. is the world\u2019s largest oil producer. He suggested prices could ease after the conflict ends,potentially dropping below prior levels.<\/p>\n<p>the piece highlights regional differences: the **South has the lowest prices**, while the **West Coast-especially states like California-has the highest**. **Oklahoma** is listed as lowest at **$3.946**, while **California** is highest at **$6.158** per gallon.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>The national average price for a gallon of regular gas slightly dropped on Monday to $4.52. While this is still significantly higher than a month ago, a week ago, and earlier this year, it is less expensive than over the weekend, such as on Sunday, when <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/gas-prices\/\">gas prices<\/a> were $4.522 per gallon.<\/p>\n<p>Monday\u2019s decrease was still nearly 7 cents per gallon more expensive than a week ago, when the national average price was $4.457 per gallon. It is also much higher than a month ago, when a gallon of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gas-prices-another-day-another-pump-increase-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"...: Another Day, Another Pump Increase - Washington Examiner\">regular gas cost <\/a>.135, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/gasprices.aaa.com\/\">according to AAA<\/a>. Before Monday\u2019s decrease, the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >daily national average price<\/a> had increased every day for over two weeks. The highest price for a gallon of regular gas in 2026 so far was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/fuelinsights.gasbuddy.com\/\">$4.56 per gallon<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4562502\/gas-prices-slight-decreases-at-the-pumps-to-begin-the-week\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Gas prices: Slight decreases at the pumps to begin the week<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4560683\/estimated-iranian-economic-damage-war-cost\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Estimated Iranian economic damage from war approaches $150 billion<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4554824\/gas-prices-over-30-cents-per-gallon-more-expensive-than-a-week-ago\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Gas prices: Over 30 cents per gallon more expensive than a week ago<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; height: 0px; padding: 100% 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; will-change: transform;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/e.infogram.com\/bdc07528-2e2b-416b-ba52-abf34cf63783?src=embed&#038;embed_type=responsive_iframe\" title=\"Gas Prices\" allowfullscreen allow=\"fullscreen\" style=\"position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top: 0px; left: 0px; border-width: medium; border-style: none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>For various reasons, gas prices have fluctuated substantially in 2026. Since gas prices fell to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4414350\/gas-prices-national-average-falls-to-2-79-per-gallon-for-first-time-in-nearly-five-years\/\">$2.79 per gallon<\/a> on Jan. 12, a five-year low, fuel costs in the country have steadily increased. Initially, winter weather nationwide was blamed for rising fuel costs, as snowstorms in January and February disrupted oil refinery operations and production. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gas-prices-less-expensive-than-last-week-last-month-and-last-year-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"...: Less ... than last ..., last month, and last year - Washington Examiner\">fuel prices began<\/a> to soar after the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\">Iran<\/a> war began.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>During the first week of March, a gallon of regular gas <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4476417\/gas-prices-costs-creep-up-close-to-3-per-gallon-to-begin-march\/\">increased to $2.98<\/a>. By March 31, the national average price of regular gas <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4510200\/gas-prices-over-4-per-gallon-most-expensive-since-2022\/\">had risen to $4.02 per gallon<\/a>. Gas prices had previously reached a 2026 high of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/gasprices.aaa.com\/news\/\">$4.16 per gallon on April 9<\/a>. As a result, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/file-under-not-qualified-to-be-energy-secretary-biden-official-stumped-on-basic-question-crenshaw-slams\/\" title=\"\u2018File\u2019 Under \u2018Not Qualified To Be Energy Secretary\u2019: Biden Official Stumped On Basic Question; Crenshaw Slams\">soaring fuel costs<\/a> have been a frequent topic of discussion, with Democrats blaming President Donald Trump\u2019s choice to go to war with Iran as the primary reason gas prices are high. <\/p>\n<p>Monday\u2019s slight drop came less than 24 hours after Energy Secretary Chris Wright was asked during an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/meet-the-press\/transcripts\/meet-press-may-10-2026-rcna344411\">interview<\/a> on <em>Meet the Press <\/em>on Sunday with Kristin Welker about the possibility of a $5 per gallon national average price for gas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould Americans be prepared for the possibility of paying $5 a gallon for gas?\u201d Welker asked.<\/p>\n<p>Wright danced around the question in his response, instead focusing on the threat Iran posed to the world and why the country cannot have a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; height: 0px; padding: 66.7% 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; will-change: transform;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/e.infogram.com\/9f7e7959-0223-42b8-b5f6-3191856ffbff?src=embed&#038;embed_type=responsive_iframe\" title=\"Crude oil prices since Jan 28\" allowfullscreen allow=\"fullscreen\" style=\"position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top: 0px; left: 0px; border: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u201cLook, again, I can\u2019t predict the price of energy in the short-term or even the medium-term, but what we\u2019re doing is ending a 47-year conflict,\u201d Wright said. \u201cIran has fought, \u2018Death to the United States,\u2019 for 47 years, \u2018Death to Israel,\u2019 and as we saw when the conflict broke out, they attacked all of their neighbors in the Middle East that had no involvement in the conflict whatsoever. If you have a hostile, unstable power like that, you simply cannot allow them to have nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Welker pressed Wright on the possibility of $5 per gallon, noting that he \u201cdid not rule out the possibility\u201d that gas prices could rise to that amount.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, I\u2019m just avoiding price predictions,\u201d Wright said. \u201cBut I will say the United States is in a tremendous position. We\u2019re by far the world\u2019s largest producer of oil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGasoline, diesel prices are up, and they will remain up while this conflict\u2019s in place, and then they will come back down,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd ultimately they\u2019ll come back down lower than they were before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One thing that remains certain about gas prices, no matter how high or low they fluctuate, is that fuel costs vary by region. The most affordable fuel prices are found in the South, while the highest gas prices in the nation are in the western U.S.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy\/4562203\/chris-wright-5-dollar-gas-iran-war\/\"><strong>CHRIS WRIGHT DOESN\u2019T RULE OUT $5 GAS AS IRAN WAR STRAINS GLOBAL FUEL SUPPLY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma has the lowest gas prices in the country at $3.946 per gallon. Mississippi is next, at $3.984 per gallon, then Arkansas at $3.998. Louisiana\u2019s statewide average increased to over $4 per gallon, but it\u2019s the state with the next-most-affordable gas prices in the nation at $4.005 per gallon. This is followed by Texas at $4.034 per gallon.<\/p>\n<p>California has the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meads-jen-psaki-blames-putin-for-high-cost-of-gas-ignores-price-hikes-in-2021\/\" title=\"MEADS: Jen Psaki Blames Putin For High Cost Of ..., Ignores ... Hikes In 2021\">highest average gas price<\/a> in the country at $6.158 per gallon. Washington state remains the state with the second-highest gas prices in the nation at $5.762 per gallon, bucking a two-year trend. Next is Hawaii at $5.65 per gallon, and then Oregon at $5.32. Alaska is the fifth-most-expensive state in the country, with a statewide average of $5.264 per gallon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Monday\u2019s average gas price fell slightly to $4.52<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2677,"featured_media":2601049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-25-at-6.35.06-AM.png?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[52243,40433,32544,16349,5708],"class_list":["post-2601048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-consumer-news","tag-fuel-economy","tag-gas-prices","tag-gasoline","tag-inflation"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-25-at-6.35.06-AM.png?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2601048"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2601052,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601048\/revisions\/2601052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2601049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2601048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2601048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2601048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}