Las Vegas Valley gas prices spike, surpassing $4 per gallon mark. Is relief on the way?

Las Vegas Valley gas prices are up 16 cents over the last month, surpassing the $4 per gallon mark for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel for the first time since 2024.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the valley as of Tuesday was $4.08, up from the $3.92 per gallon a month ago, according to AAA data. Prices have increased by 10 cents in the past week. Tuesday’s price is 34 cents higher than the $3.74 per gallon Las Vegans were paying a year ago.

When prices surpassed the $4 per gallon mark average last week, it marked the first time it hit that mark since June 2024, according to Gas Buddy.

Nevada’s statewide average for a gallon of regular gas is $3.97, up 8 cents compared with a month ago, according to AAA. Nevada ranks as the fourth-most expensive state for gas, only trailing Washington ($4.21 per gallon), Hawaii ($4.46) and California ($4.70).

The recent increase in the Las Vegas Valley is due to Southern California refinery issues, according to Patrick De Hann, lead petroleum analyst with Gas Buddy. The increase is from a combination of the October fire at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo, California, near Los Angeles and the shuttering of the Phillips 66 refinery, also in the L.A. area.

“Basically, Phillips 66 L.A. is now shut down,” De Haan told the Review-Journal Tuesday. “The Chevron facility was having issues, but now it’s the loss of the refinery that is completely shut down.”

Despite the recent rise, De Hann said that good news is on the horizon and a declining trend is expected over the next few weeks, barring any additional refinery problems in California.

With wholesale prices already falling, prices at the pump in the Las Vegas Valley should fall below the $4 per gallon mark in the next week and see an even larger decrease over the next few weeks, De Hann said.

“We could, if there’s no new issues … you could go down 20 to 30 cents over the next three weeks,” De Haan said. “If there are new issues, I don’t expect that it’s going to lead to increases, but it may slow the decreases. … There would have to be some sort of major issue to actually see an increase.”

When the start of holiday travel rolls around at the end of the month with Thanksgiving, a spike in fuel prices isn’t expected, De Haan noted.

“The best-kept secret is that demand over the course of Thanksgiving, if you look at the same Sunday to Saturday week, demand is actually lower than the week proceeding and the week after,” De Haan said. “That’s just because Americans travel on a condensed way on Wednesday (before Thanksgiving). Most of us take Wednesday off or leave Wednesday and then most of us stay parked Thursday, mostly parked Friday, some people go shopping. Most of us are at our destination Saturday and leave on Sunday. So, there’s usually lower gasoline demand during the week of Thanksgiving.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.