Gas prices of $4.399 a gallon are pictured at the Kwik Fill on Foote Avenue on Tuesday morning. P-J photo by John Whittaker

It was a nice break while it lasted.

After a two-week break, gas prices in the Jamestown area shot up 19 cents a gallon over the weekend, reaching $4.399 a gallon, according to the AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

After ticking down for nearly two weeks, gas prices are going back up again with the national average seeing a 34-cent hike in one week. The national average is $1.29 higher than it was this time last year, as oil prices surge above $100/barrel with no indication of when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen. Gas prices are the highest they’ve been in four years, since late July 2022.

Gas was $4.19 on April 27 at most gas stations in the Jamestown area and was $3.388 the first week of May 2025. The record price locally was $4.904 the week of June 13, 2022.

The national average for a gallon of gas is $4.457, according to the AAA, while the New York state average is $4.463. Prices are generally higher in the state’s northeastern counties and in the region around New York City, generally from $4.524 to $4.525 a gallon. Prices moderate in Western New York to between $4.391 to $4.403. Jamestown area gas prices are near the middle of the pack compared to the rest of the state.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased last week from 9.05 million barrels per day to 9.10 million. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 228.4 million barrels to 222.3 million. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 9.8 million barrels per day.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate rose $6.95 to settle at $106.88 a barrel. The EIA reports crude oil inventories decreased by 6.2 million barrels from the previous week. At 459.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 1% above the five-year average for this time of year.

The nation’s top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are California ($6.01), Hawaii ($5.64), Washington ($5.57), Oregon ($5.15), Nevada ($5.12), Alaska ($4.92), Arizona ($4.67), Illinois ($4.66), Michigan ($4.58), and Ohio ($4.46).

The nation’s top 10 least expensive gasoline markets are Oklahoma ($3.70), Kansas ($3.75), Georgia ($3.75), Mississippi ($3.77), Arkansas ($3.79), Louisiana ($3.80), Missouri ($3.83), North Dakota ($3.84), Texas ($3.85), and Alabama ($3.86).

Seven countries in the OPEC+ grouping of oil-producing countries — including Saudi Arabia and Russia — say they’ve decided to a modest increase in production starting in June as part of a commitment to “market stability.”

The commitment from the seven countries, also including Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait and Oman, to raise production by 188,000 barrels per day comes after a virtual meeting they held on Sunday.

The move is mostly symbolic because it comes as Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes, in the midst of the U.S.-Israeli war. That has stopped much of the oil shipped from Gulf producers and knocked millions of barrels a day off the global market.

It also follows a decision by the United Arab Emirates to leave the OPEC oil cartel, shaking up the 65-year-old alliance that produces some 40% of the world’s crude oil and exerts major influence over the price of energy around the globe.

Iran is one of OPEC’s 12 member countries, and Russia is not — it works with the Vienna-based oil producers alliance through the OPEC+ grouping.

The seven countries said they would hold monthly meetings “to review market conditions, conformity, and compensation” and plan to meet again on June 7.