Fresno gas prices up 25¢ in one week, Easton station operator says margins remain tight

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- As consumers feel the squeeze of tariffs at the grocery store, the price at the pump is also getting more expensive.

"Gas prices shot up another 14 cents a gallon in Fresno," Patrick De Haan at GasBuddy said.

The average price in Fresno is now $4.76 a gallon, up nearly 13 cents since last month.

It is still lower than the state's average of $4.86 per gallon.

"The challenge has been in the last couple of weeks, we continue to see the seasonal trends pushing prices up," De Haan said. "The transition to summer gasoline is very complex."

Complicating the transition -- and still causing prices to rise -- was the fire at PBF's Martinez refinery in February.

"That refinery is only just now starting to slowly restart itself. PBF has said it will take until the end of the year for that refiner to get back online fully."

The pain at the pump comes as President Trump mounts his trade war amid growing fears of a recession.

"When the market is so expensive, we hardly make anything," Yakoob Mohamed at Jack's Gas in Easton said. "I'd rather have the gas at $2.99. We would be making more money."

Mohamed operates stations throughout Fresno and the South Valley, where he and business partner Haitham Mohamed say customers are spending less inside.

"Gas affects everything," Haitham said. "As the gas prices go up after COVID, companies are raring their prices. Delivery companies are spending more on workers and everything, so it affects everything in general inside the store."

Relief for customers could soon be on the way.

De Haan says that as producers pass along the cost of tariffs to consumers, the price of oil could go down, leading to lower prices at the pump.

"A lot of the economic uncertainty because of the potential huge increase of costs born by tariffs could be slowing the economy down, which would then slow oil demand," De Haan said. "And yes, that would also slow down gas prices."

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