“With gasoline demand on the rise and the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz, pump prices are likely to remain elevated as the summer travel season gets underway,” AAA said.

At least 16 states are expected to see all-time Memorial Day gas price records this weekend, surging past records set in 2022. 

This includes Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, according to GasBuddy. 

The rapid increase in gasoline prices has resulted in drivers spending billions of dollars more on gasoline over the last three months. 

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, warned on Friday that at the current rate, Americans will be spending $2 billion more on gasoline over Memorial Day weekend compared to this time last year. 

Broken down further, De Haan estimates that is equivalent to roughly $22 million more every hour over the four-day weekend. 

In December, GasBuddy projected that gas prices would be between $2.99 and $3.23 a gallon this May. 

The extended closure of the Strait of Hormuz has thrown those projections out the window. Prior to the start of the war, a fifth of the world’s oil traveled through the strait daily. That traffic has come to an effective standstill, with few ships passing through due to threats from Iran to fire drones and ballistic missiles at vessels that fail to meet its demands, such as payment.

The disruption has caused crude oil prices worldwide to jump significantly, thereby raising the cost of other petroleum products such as gasoline and jet fuel. 

If the Strait of Hormuz fails to reopen fully as nations continue to deplete their oil stockpiles amid added pressure from summer demand, analysts have warned that prices at the pump could hit $5 a gallon as soon as June.

These warnings, however, do not appear to have deterred drivers from changing their habits this holiday weekend. 

AAA projected that around 45 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over Memorial Day, with driving being the most popular option to travel. 

Roughly 39.1 million people are forecast to travel by car over the weekend, slightly above the 39 million drivers recorded by AAA last year. 

California continues to be the most expensive gasoline market across the country, with the state’s average price of gas hitting $6.13 a gallon on Friday, roughly 30 cents less than the state’s all-time high. 

In recent days, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has publicly feuded with Chevron over surging prices, as the oil and gas major launched a campaign blaming premiums on the state’s climate change-related policies that have pushed fossil fuel producers out of California. 

“California politicians are choosing foreign oil and fuels over local jobs and lower costs,” signs posted by Chevron at California gas stations said. 

Ahead of the weekend, Newsom took to social media urging drivers to boycott Chevron as they hit the roads for Memorial Day.

“Californians, if you’re hitting the road this holiday weekend, be sure to AVOID Chevron,” the governor’s office posted on X. “Pro tip: unbranded gas comes from the same refineries, storage tanks, and pipelines, and it meets the same state standards to keep your engine running clean, even if it doesn’t have a fancy name like ‘Techron.’”

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“Big Oil is already making billions off Trump’s Iran War; don’t let them rip you off even more by overpaying for the brand name,” Newsom’s office added. 

California has the highest tax on gasoline in the country, taxing consumers around 70 cents per gallon of gas.