Gas prices across Greater Cincinnati surged on Friday, Oct. 23, surpassing both the state and national averages, with a gallon of regular unleaded selling for as much as $4.69 at some stations, according to gas price tracker GasBuddy. The Sunoco on Madison Road in Madisonville was selling a gallon for $4.69, while several stations across the area were charging $4.49.
According to AAA Fuel Prices, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in the Ohio portion of the Cincinnati metro area was about $4.39 per gallon. The national average stood at $4.29, while Ohio’s statewide average was approximately $4.37. GasBuddy put Cincinnati’s own average at $4.42 a gallon as of 11:50 a.m. Friday.
The jump was sudden. Cincinnati’s average rose about 42 cents from Thursday and 34 cents from a week ago, according to the reported figures. Even after the surge, the average sits almost 3 cents lower than a month ago — but about $1.34 higher than a year ago, when a gallon in Cincinnati cost about $3.05.
Prices were not uniform across the river. The Riverside Market on Elm Street in Ludlow, Kentucky, was selling regular for $4.59 a gallon, and drivers crossing between Ohio and Northern Kentucky for work, school, and errands were seeing elevated prices on both sides of the Ohio River.
The main reason gas prices are surging is the war involving Iran, according to a USA Today report cited in local coverage. The war has disrupted transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a Middle Eastern waterway used to transport a large percentage of the world’s petroleum, creating an international supply bottleneck that has driven prices to historical highs in parts of America — California’s average, by comparison, stands at $6.04 a gallon, while Texas averages $3.71.
For Cincinnati drivers, the immediate impact is at the pump this weekend: filling a typical tank at Friday’s metro average costs several dollars more than it did on Thursday. Price trackers advise that prices can vary widely between stations only a few miles apart, so the cheapest gallon in the metro on Friday was well below the $4.69 top end — but the direction, heading into the weekend, was unmistakably up.