Average cost of gas drops to less than $4 per gallon for first time since July

The national average for the cost of gas dropped to less than $4 per gallon on Tuesday for the first time since July, as prices soared in the months following the start of the Iran war.

According to AAA , the average price of gas hit $3.98 per gallon, the first time in 114 days that the fuel was priced at less than $4 a gallon. Several states still have high energy prices, with most of the Northeast, excluding Rhode Island, and much of the western U.S. still seeing prices of more than $4.

Nevada, California and Hawaii have average prices close to $6 a gallon, while most of the South has seen the cost sink to less than $3.70 per gallon, AAA’s website states.

This decline came as oil futures dipped 13 percent last week, when the global crude oil benchmark Brent saw its biggest drop since April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oil prices fell another 5 percent on Monday to their lowest level since Aug. 31, reaching just less than $90 a barrel Tuesday.

After President Trump said last week that he did not have a plan to renew attacks on Iran and Democrats notched sweeping victories in last week’s midterm elections , markets bet that Democratic control of Congress would cap Trump’s economically disruptive policies, including the conflict, NBC News reported.

Iran’s effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz following the start of the war on Feb. 28 has caused gas prices to skyrocket. The ensuing energy shortage was the result of Tehran closing the key waterway, where roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil is exported.

The conflict has been widely unpopular among the American public, with Trump, Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other administration officials acknowledging that it likely led to Republican defeats last week.

The president on Monday downplayed the likelihood of renewed strikes on the Iranian regime after meeting with the primary interlocutor with Iran, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

“Iran militarily is effectively over,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that the U.S. naval and land blockades amount to a “status quo.”

Trump also noted that the conflict was “ending quickly, but we want to take care of people that have been very good to us over the years,” referring to partners in the region like Qatar.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday gave the U.S. an ultimatum after Tehran submitted a two-day proposal to end the conflict or “choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened Warriors rain down hell.”

This came as the U.S. reportedly launched defensive strikes against Iran shortly before and after the midterms .