Michigan gas prices jump 20 cents overnight as Mideast tensions rise
After Michigan gas prices fell to nearly $4 a gallon, the statewide average for gasoline jumped 20 cents – overnight – to $4.22 a gallon in response to news of escalating armed conflict with Iran and surging crude oil prices.
How high gas prices will go remains to be seen as the United States and Iran traded fire this week on ships near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran on Wednesday, Sept. 9, said it attacked 10 ships, and the United States – which has blockaded Iranian ports and has enacted economic sanctions – said it sank five Iranian oil tankers.
Reuters, in its report of the exchange, described it as the "biggest declared wave of tit-for-tat attacks on shipping by both sides since the start of the six-month-old war," which sent oil prices higher and diesel fuel to a new national record of $5.94 a gallon.
For Iran, oil is both a key source of income and its leverage over the United States. By asserting control over the flow of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is also affecting the world economy and, potentially, increasing voters' tolerance of the war and higher gas prices.
In Michigan, gasoline hit an all-time high of $5.22 a gallon in 2022. Diesel, however, just topped out this year in March at $6.21 a gallon, a price even higher than the national all-time average. The new state average for regular gasoline on Wednesday was $4.22 a gallon, and $5.90 for diesel.
Gas prices at the service stations at the corner of Allen and West roads hang at just under two dollars a gallon Thursday May 7, 2004. (David P. Gilkey, Detroit Free Press)Citgo gas station at Woodward and 12 Mile in Royal Oak. (Frank Witsil)Gas prices at a Shell station in Ferndale at Hilton, near Interstate 696, near $5 a gallon on Wednesday, April 27, 2026. (Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press)The Mobil gas station on Woodward Avenue in Birmingham on April 6, 2026. (Frank Witsil)Gas reached $5.39 a gallon at the Mobil gas station at 5001 Trumbull in Detroit on May 6, 2026. (Nancy Kaffer, Detroit Free Press)A Shell gas station sign displays fuel prices along a street in Detroit on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (David Rodriguez Muñoz, Detroit Free Press)Carlos Santodomingo, 29, fills his car with gas during a break from delivering food through DoorDash in Ypsilanti on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (David Rodriguez Muñoz, Detroit Free Press)Competing gas stations on M-59 in Waterford, Michigan on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. (Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)A gas pump at a Speedway gas station on Harper and Vernier in Harper Woods shows a regular gas price of $1.11 per gallon in March 1982. (Patricia Beck, Detroit Free Press)Regular and unleaded gas prices at Speedway gas station in Southfield in March 1983. (Ira Rosenberg)Lead free gas for $1.179 / gal. at a Speedway gas station in metro Detroit in March 1972. (Patricia Beck, Detroit Free Press)David Nelson, manager of the Total gas station at 8 Mile and Ward puts up a 99-cents-a gallon sign in Feb. 1991. (Detroit Free Press)People ride bikes by the BP gas station on Middlebelt Rd. near Detroit Metropolitan airport on Saturday, May 10, 2008. (BRIAN KAUFMAN, Detroit Free Press)A Marathon gas station at the corner of Fort and Dragoon in Detroit, with premium gas for sale at $3.59. Photo taken Monday, February 28, 2011. (REGINA H. BOONE)The sign advertising gas prices at the corner of Clay and Chrysler freeway in Detroit on May 7, 2007. (MARY SCHROEDER, Detroit Free Press)Gas prices are displayed on signs on the Detroit side of 8 Mile on Monday, May 9, 2022. (Mandi Wright)Gas prices at Marathon and Mobil on Ford Road Wednesday, May 22, 2013 in Dearborn, Mich. (ANDRE J. JACKSON, Detroit Free Press)A Marathon station on Crooks Rd. in Royal Oak was using its signage to brighten people's days with silly quotes and funny slogans. This one is from Jan. 29, 2017. (Ashley Zlatopolsky)A Citgo station at E. 8 Mile Road and Exeter Road had gas priced at $2.09 a gallon for cash purchases of regular unleaded in March 2020. (Susan Tompor)People drive past the Citgo station at the corner of W. Vernor Hwy. and Clark Street in Detroit's South side on Monday January 5, 2015. Gas at the station was $1.89 a gallon for unleaded. (Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)A Marathon gas station on Union Lake Road and Cooley Lake Road in Commerce Township, pictured on August 31, 2005. (ERIC SEALS, DETROIT FREE PRESS)The Shell gas station located at Chene and E. Jefferson in Detroit, selling gas for 2.09 per gallon for regular unleaded in June of 2000. (William Archie, DETROIT FREE PRESS)The Marathon station at E. Twelve Mile Road and N. Stephenson in Madison Heights was selling egular gas credit was $3.95 per gallon on Monday, April 4, 2011. (PATRICIA BECK, Detroit Free Press)
More than being an escalation of the conflict, those watching the war, global energy crisis and petroleum industry are worried that Iran, as it faces economic pressure from the blockade and sanctions, is signaling it is now willing to take more military risks.
But in terms of the economy, the price of diesel fuel especially matters because it influences the price of goods even more because it fuels the trucks, trains and ships that deliver everything from the food you buy at the grocery store to the Amazon packages that arrive at your doorstep.
Gas prices, which AAA tracks daily, had been dropping as the traditional summer travel season ended and demand was expected to decline too, but the international price of oil hit $100 a barrel on Wednesday, Sept 9, with worries it could go even higher if tensions mount.
More: No matter what you drive, record high diesel prices are costing you
West Texas Intermediate crude was also up, at about $95 a barrel.
Iran also said it fired ballistic missiles at a base used by U.S. forces in Jordan, putting American lives at risk, which the administration has sought to downplay. Last week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized for saying no Americans had died in the Iran war when, so far, 18 service members have been killed.
