PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Crude oil prices surged after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and stalled tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing gas prices sharply higher across the country, though Oregon and Washington are seeing smaller increases than many other states.

The national average price for regular gasoline jumped 43 cents over the past week to $3.54 a gallon.

Oregon’s average rose 31 cents to $4.26 a gallon, the 42nd-largest week-over-week increase among states.

Washington also increased 31 cents, ranking 44th-largest.

READ ALSO | Oil prices spike amid Iran war; Oregon gas remains above national average

The current national average is at its highest price since July 2024. Oregon’s average is at its highest since Sept. 2025.

“When crude oil prices shoot up, pump prices follow suit because crude oil is the basic ingredient in gasoline and diesel. It’s impossible to predict how high prices might go, but expect elevated oil and gas prices as long as the conflict in Iran continues and tankers are stalled in the Strait of Hormuz,” said Marie Dodds, public affairs director for AAA Oregon/Idaho.

AAA notes that, in general, every $1 increase in the price of crude oil leads to a 2.4- to 2.5-cent increase in the price of gasoline.

Crude oil typically accounts for about 47% of the cost of a gallon of gasoline, with refining at 16%, distribution and marketing at 20%, and taxes at 17%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

About 20% of the world’s oil and refined products flow through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passageway of the Persian Gulf bordered by Iran.

Tankers traveling through the strait carry oil from major producers including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar, Iraq and Iran. Any disruption can affect global oil supplies. While the U.S. does not rely on Iranian oil, China and India do.

Seasonal factors are also adding upward pressure. Gas prices typically rise starting in mid-to-late winter and early spring as refineries undergo maintenance ahead of the switch to summer-blend fuel, which is more expensive to produce and less likely to evaporate in warmer temperatures.

Most areas have a May 1 compliance date for refiners and terminals, while most gas stations have a June 1 deadline to switch to selling summer-blend. Some refineries begin maintenance and the switchover in February.

In Oregon, the average price for regular gas began 2026 at $3.42 a gallon. The highest price of the year so far is today’s $4.26, and the lowest was $3.33 on Jan. 20. Nationally, the average began 2026 at $2.83 a gallon. The highest price of the year so far is today’s $3.54, and the lowest was $2.795 on Jan. 11.

AAA reported that U.S. gasoline demand decreased from 8.73 million barrels per day to 8.29 million for the week ending Feb. 27, compared with 8.88 million a year ago.

Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 254.8 million barrels to 253.1 million. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.3 million barrels per day compared with 9.2 million barrels per day the previous week.

Crude oil prices have been volatile. West Texas Intermediate surged to near four-year highs around $95 per barrel this week but fell to the $80s today as President Trump signaled the conflict with Iran may end soon.

On the West Coast, all seven states remain in the top 10 for the most expensive pump prices nationally.

California has the highest average for the fifth week in a row at $5.29 a gallon and is the only state at or above $5.

Washington is second at $4.69, Hawaii third at $4.59, Nevada fourth at $4.30 and Oregon fifth at $4.26. Arizona averages $3.97 and Alaska $3.95.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia saw week-over-week increases. California had the largest jump at 62 cents, while Hawaii had the smallest at 19 cents. AAA said Oregon and Washington prices also rose last month after an outage of the Olympic pipeline.

The cheapest gas in the nation is in Kansas at $2.96 a gallon and Oklahoma at $3.01. Kansas is the only state with an average in the $2 range this week. The gap between the most expensive and least expensive states is $2.33 this week, up from $2.05 a week ago.

Compared with a month ago, prices are higher everywhere: the national average is up 62 cents and Oregon’s average is up 68 cents.

Compared with a year ago, the national average is up 45 cents and Oregon’s average is up 53 cents.

Diesel prices also spiked. The national average for diesel rose 89 cents over the week to $4.78 a gallon, while Oregon’s average jumped 72 cents to $5.02.

A year ago, the national average for diesel was $3.63 and Oregon’s average was $3.86.

Utah’s Republican-controlled legislature is escalating its fight against the state’s anti-gerrymandering law after a series of court rulings threatened the congressional map that has long favored the GOP.

In the latest move, lawmakers passed a new rule over the weekend that blocks many voters from withdrawing their signatures from a petition that sought to repeal Proposition 4 ahead of a Monday deadline, undermining efforts by grassroots groups to preserve the reform. That could affect the result of the petition after some voters said they were misled by Republicans who asked them to sign.

The move comes as redistricting battles intensify across the US ahead of the midterm elections. Courts in several states are weighing lawsuits over congressional maps, while Donald Trump has urged Republican governors to redraw districts in ways that could strengthen GOP control of House seats.

On 25 August 2025, third district judge Dianna Gibson ruled that Utah lawmakers had unconstitutionally overridden Proposition 4, the 2018 voter-approved initiative that created an independent redistricting commission, set neutral mapping criteria and required greater transparency in the process.

Gibson sided with the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, striking down the state’s 2021 congressional maps and reinstating Proposition 4 as a binding law, which allows independent bodies to redraw the districts. The ruling aligned with public opinion as well, according to the conservative Sutherland Policy Institute, which found that 85% of registered Utah voters support involving an independent commission in redistricting.

Gerrymandering’s impact has been most severe in Salt Lake county, Utah’s youngest and most populous county, which heavily leans Democratic. The 2021 Republican-drawn maps split the county across all four districts, diluting urban Democratic votes and entrenching GOP dominance.

“Salt Lake county was chopped into pieces,” said Katharine Biele, president of the League of Women Voters of Utah. “This new map reunifies the county, so people there have a fair chance to be heard.” By consolidating the county into a single district, the revised map restored genuine electoral competition; it could also give Democrats a fair chance to win one of Utah’s four congressional seats in the midterm elections.

But the sense of optimism many in Salt Lake City felt in August has steadily faded as Republicans have passed layers of legislation aimed at weakening or repealing Proposition 4. After the district court ruling last year, Utah’s Republican leadership quickly rejected the decision. Some lawmakers even threatened to impeach Judge Gibson.

As it became clear that Proposition 4 could deliver an additional seat to Democrats, the fight drew national attention. Trump and JD Vance both weighed in, framing the dispute as part of a broader struggle over election rules, with Trump immediately taking to social media, calling the proposition “unconstitutional” and the judges part of the “Radical Left”.

“What’s really frustrating is seeing that instead of listening to the people, and to the courts who are trying to keep them in line, they’re just trying to change the rules,” said Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of Better Boundaries, an advocacy group that had been running an awareness effort urging petition signers to withdraw their signatures before the Republican’s latest legislation.

In late January, Utah Republicans passed legislation adding two seats to the state’s supreme court. The state’s governor, Spencer Cox, quickly signed the bill into law, expanding the court from five to seven justices. Critics argue the move amounts to court expansion aimed at blunting the impact of rulings related to Proposition 4.

“Disagreement with judicial decisions is normal,” Rasmussen said, referencing criticism from the Trump administration and frustration expressed by the governor. “But impeaching a judge because you lost is not. Trying to rewrite the rules after the fact is not. Court-packing is not how this system works.”

(The Guardian reached out to the Utah governor’s office for comment multiple times but had not received a response at the time of publication.)

In early February, with the deadline to file for re-election just over a month away, two Utah Republican members of Congress, representatives Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state court’s order to reinstate the district court-approved map. They argued that the ruling violated the US constitution and asked the US district court for Utah to restore the map passed by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2021.

Later that month, a three-judge federal panel rejected the GOP-led effort to block the new House map. The judges denied Republicans’ request for a preliminary injunction, allowing the revised map to be used in this year’s election and giving Democratic candidates a potential opportunity to win a US House seat. (The Guardian reached out to the Utah GOP for comment in December but had not received a response as of publication.)

Biele, of the League of Women Voters of Utah, sharply criticized Republican lawmakers, calling the move an abuse of power. “Every time they lose, or get a ruling they don’t agree with, they change the rules so it works for them,” she said.

But in a final push to overturn Proposition 4, Utah Republicans announced last Monday that they had submitted enough verified signatures to qualify a repeal measure for the November ballot, with a deadline to verify on 9 March. Once verified, county clerks were expected to publish the names of signers, triggering a 45-day window during which voters could withdraw their signatures – a process later threatened by the weekend legislation to make it harder to do so.

Rasmussen, executive director of Better Boundaries, said the bill was pushed through with little public scrutiny. “This bill was obviously planned to pass as the clock ran out with very little public input,” she said. “It was introduced at 11pm on a Friday, the last night of the legislative session, and was signed into law only 12 hours later.” She added that the move reflects a broader problem.

“This type of legislative behavior is what happens when there aren’t any checks on power.”

A pair of bills signed into law last week aim to build out a more comprehensive system of literacy education across Wyoming’s public schools.

One mandates evidence-based practices and requires regular screenings for dyslexia, while the other enables the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to hire a dedicated literacy professional to oversee statewide compliance.

Gov. Mark Gordon’s signing of both bills on Friday was the latest accomplishment of an ongoing push for improved literacy standards. That push has been spearheaded by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

“Wyoming is not going to let a single child fall through the cracks,” Degenfelder said during a public bill signing last week. “We are not going to fall behind when it comes to ensuring that our children can read at grade level.”

The primary bill, Senate File 59, establishes a statewide K-12 program for teaching students to read that is built on “evidence based language and literacy instruction, assessment, intervention and professional development that supports educators, engages families and promotes literacy proficiency for all Wyoming students.”

The bill defines evidence-based strategies as those that conform to the science of reading, a term that will be defined and updated by Degenfelder’s office. Nationwide, it generally means putting academic research into practice in classrooms. SF 59 specifically prohibits the exclusive use of “three-cueing” — a strategy once widely employed to teach reading but which education experts now say is outdated and less effective than other strategies.

It also requires annual dyslexia screeners for students below the third grade, and testing for reading difficulties for all students.

The screeners are used to identify the severity of reading difficulties in order to direct “tiered” support that offers the most intensive interventions to the students most in need, while still providing “evidence based” language instruction to all students.

Each school district must formulate an individualized reading plan “for each student identified as having reading difficulties or at risk for poor reading outcomes.”

Districts must now report to the state annually regarding their literacy-related work. Any district where 60% or more of the students are struggling will be required to implement “summer literacy camps or extended supports, including after school support and tutoring.”

The bill also requires literacy related professional development for teachers and specialists “appropriate to their role and level of responsibility” related to literacy education.

SF 59 was backed by dyslexia advocates and literacy specialists.

Senate File 14, the other literacy bill signed into law Friday, appropriates $120,000 annually for the next two years for a full-time position at WDE “to assist school districts in implementing a reading assessment and intervention program and language and literacy programs.”

Both bills go into effect July 1.