Gasoline along the I-15 corridor near Lehi costs about $4.65 a gallon after a statewide 26-cent surge in a single week, according to AAA data released Thursday, Sept. 10.

The Provo-to-Salt Lake City-to-Ogden stretch, the daily commute for thousands of Silicon Slopes workers, matches the broader corridor average. Utah's statewide average hit $4.68 a gallon, making it the eighth most expensive state for gas in the country. St. George topped the state at $4.78.

The jump defies the usual fall pattern.

AAA Mountain West Group spokesperson Aldo Vazquez said prices are comparable to where they were in early June and noted that "the state and national average are both increasing during a season when gas prices typically go down due to lower gasoline demand after Labor Day."

AAA attributed the surge to volatility in the Strait of Hormuz, saying crude oil moved back toward $100 a barrel for the first time since July. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $96.05 a barrel on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

The national average rose 13 cents over the same week to $4.27 a gallon. A year ago, the national average was $3.19.

Utah's climb has been steep. The Deseret News reported on Tuesday, Sept. 8, that Utah drivers were paying $4.41 a gallon that day. Two days later, the state average had jumped another 27 cents.

GasBuddy head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan warned in a Sept. 8 blog post cited by the Deseret News that diesel could keep climbing, calling $6 a gallon "a realistic possibility in the weeks ahead" if Ukrainian strikes on Russian refining infrastructure continue knocking capacity offline.

Gas is not the only cost climbing. The Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% annually in August, with gasoline prices jumping 3.9% that month, CBS News reported on Friday, Sept. 11. After the report's release, the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate hike at the Fed's Wednesday, Sept. 16, meeting jumped to nearly 90%, according to CME FedWatch data cited by CBS News.

For Lehi-area commuters filling up along the I-15 corridor, a 15-gallon tank now runs about $70 at current prices, roughly $21 more than it did a year ago.