Gasoline prices across the US have risen sharply ahead of Memorial Day weekend, mainly because higher crude oil prices linked to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted global oil supplies. Regional factors such as refinery outages, local supply and demand, fuel regulations, and state taxes also caused differences in prices across the country, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The Midwest, Rocky Mountains, and West Coast saw some of the biggest increases due to refinery maintenance and limited supply, while the Gulf Coast continued to have the lowest prices because of its large refining capacity and lower fuel taxes.

In response, the US government released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and introduced temporary measures to ease fuel supply pressures as millions of Americans prepared to travel for the holiday weekend.