Gas prices in Santa Barbara have finally begun to drop. Average prices fell 7.1 cents per gallon in the last week to $5.48 a gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 56 stations in town, which, compared to a month ago, is 47.9 cents per gallon less than during the edgy ceasefire in the war between the U.S. and Iran.
The volatile nature of the war has caused gas prices to go up and down over the last few months, but mostly stay at a standstill at an elevated level. In late June, the U.S. issued a waiver of the sanction against Iran’s oil sales. The ensuing allowance for Iran to sell oil for 60 days addressed the primary reason for increased gas prices, as Iran relaxed its control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a quarter to a third of the world’s oil passes via tanker ships between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
On Tuesday, attacks on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz reawakened the conflict. Though Iran has not said it attacked the ships, the U.S. retaliated with airstrikes on mainland Iran and reimposed the oil sales sanction. Barrel prices reacted, with Brent crude listed at $76 per barrel Tuesday compared to $72 on Monday.
In Santa Barbara, the cost-per-gallon price over the last five years has averaged higher than the rest of the country by at least $1 a gallon, with the highest cost in July 2022 at an average of $6.10/gallon. California’s specific refining criteria, as well as state taxation, makes the state’s average cost-per-gallon of gas higher than any other state. Santa Barbara’s average cost is on the lower end of average prices in the state, at $5.27 a gallon while the average range in the last week in California was between $3.69 and $9.79 per gallon.
