# Global Oil Disruption Pushes Nebraska Gas Prices to 4-Year High  
**Published:** 2026-05-12T14:04:37.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/12/repub/how-the-strait-of-hormuz-affects-the-price-of-filling-your-gas-tank/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/global-oil-disruption-pushes-nebraska-gas-prices-to-4-year-high

LINCOLN, Neb. — [Gasoline prices in Nebraska have surged to levels not seen in four years](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/12/repub/how-the-strait-of-hormuz-affects-the-price-of-filling-your-gas-tank/), driven by a geopolitical crisis thousands of miles away in the Persian Gulf that has disrupted one of the world's most critical shipping routes.

[Since the United States and Israel began military operations against Iran on February 28, shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been largely blocked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Strait_of_Hormuz_crisis), creating a global supply crunch. The narrow waterway is [the major export route for oil produced by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain and Iran](https://www.iea.org/about/oil-security-and-emergency-response/strait-of-hormuz).

[A gallon of regular gasoline on Monday cost an average of $4.52 nationally](https://gasprices.aaa.com/), up from $4.14 a month ago and $3.14 a year ago. [In Nebraska, prices have topped $4 per gallon for the first time in four years](https://1011now.com/2026/05/06/nebraska-gas-prices-top-4-gallon-first-time-four-years/), with [Lincoln seeing some of the highest prices in the state at $3.98 per gallon as of May 1](https://stacker.com/stories/nebraska/how-gas-prices-have-changed-nebraska-last-week). The price climb has frustrated drivers. "Gas is not good. It's way too much right now," said Milan Ernst, a high school student who drives from Seward to Lincoln daily.

The mechanism connecting a distant Middle East conflict to Nebraska pump prices is simple: globalization. [Although most oil passing through the strait goes to Asian markets, and the U.S. is importing less crude oil from the Persian Gulf than it has in 40 years](https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/special-topics/World_Oil_Transit_Chokepoints), the global oil market operates as a unified whole.

"Oil and refined products like gasoline are traded on the commodities markets. Places with short supply are willing to pay more for product. That drives up the global price," said Jeff Lenard, vice president of the National Association of Convenience Stores. When supply is scarce anywhere in the world, buyers everywhere pay more.

The price breakdown at the pump shows crude oil's outsized impact. [Crude oil makes up 51% of the retail cost of gasoline](https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/), while [federal and state taxes account for 18%](https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-do-state-and-local-motor-fuel-taxes-work). [Each dollar the price of oil increases translates to about 2.4 cents a gallon at the pump](https://www.convenience.org/Media/conveniencecorner/What-Happens-to-Gas-Prices-When-Oil-Prices-Rise).

[Brent crude, the world benchmark, was $70.50 the day before the strikes. Monday morning, it was more than $104](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BZ=F/history/), representing a $34 per barrel increase that should theoretically add 82 cents to a gallon of gas.

[A prolonged disruption of Middle East oil trade would create oil market conditions for which there is no historical precedent](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45281), according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. [The oil market will take until 2027 to normalize if the disruption persists beyond mid-June, the CEO of the world's largest oil company warned](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/11/saudi-aramco-oil-iran-war-strait-hormuz.html).

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/12/repub/how-the-strait-of-hormuz-affects-the-price-of-filling-your-gas-tank/)
- [Wikipedia entry on the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Strait_of_Hormuz_crisis)
- [AAA national gas price averages](https://gasprices.aaa.com/)
- [KOLN report on Nebraska gas prices topping $4](https://1011now.com/2026/05/06/nebraska-gas-prices-top-4-gallon-first-time-four-years/)
- [Stacker data on Nebraska gas prices by metro area](https://stacker.com/stories/nebraska/how-gas-prices-have-changed-nebraska-last-week)
- [CNBC report on Saudi Aramco CEO warning about market recovery timeline](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/11/saudi-aramco-oil-iran-war-strait-hormuz.html)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/12/repub/how-the-strait-of-hormuz-affects-the-price-of-filling-your-gas-tank/.