Montana Gas Prices Jump More Than 22 Cents, Hitting Lewis and Clark County Drivers

Montana gas prices continued rising at an alarming rate, with Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, confirming the statewide average reached $3.35 per gallon on Monday, March 16, up 23.3 cents from the prior week. For drivers filling up in Helena and across Lewis and Clark County, that figure represents a swift and painful reversal after months of relatively modest prices at the pump.

Statewide, prices were 62.8 cents per gallon higher than a month earlier and 27 cents higher than the same time last year. In Missoula, most stations were charging $3.39 by Monday morning, a 20-cent jump from the previous week and a 60-cent increase from two weeks before. GasBuddy price reports put the cheapest station in Montana at $2.74 per gallon on Sunday, March 15, while the most expensive reached $3.99, a spread of $1.25 per gallon.

The spike did not arrive quietly. In just the week ending March 9, De Haan said consumers saw gasoline prices surge at one of the fastest rates in years after oil prices spiked following U.S. strikes on Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. "With additional attacks across the Middle East over the weekend pushing oil above $100 per barrel for the first time in years, fuel markets are now rapidly recalibrating to the risk of prolonged disruption to global supply flows," De Haan said, adding that gasoline prices in many states could climb another 20 to 50 cents per gallon in the days that followed.

De Haan was direct about what is driving the bulk of the pain. "We have not seen as far as how volatile it's been in the last week and a half. We haven't seen that in 2026. We didn't even really see that in 2025," he said, with industry experts pointing to global tensions involving Iran as the leading factor.

Seasonal forces are also at work, though they account for a far smaller share. De Haan noted that prices typically rise between late February and mid-May as refineries switch to cleaner summer-blend gasoline, demand climbs, and maintenance schedules kick in. But he made clear that factor is secondary. "Eighty to 85% of the rise in the last four weeks is due to the situation in Iran," De Haan told NBC Montana, "and maybe 10 to 15% of the increase over the last four weeks has been because of the seasonal nature of prices."

Montana's landlocked geography provides some insulation. AAA data put the Montana statewide average at $3.569 per gallon as of March 26, while the AAA national average stood at $3.977 per gallon the same day, meaning Montana drivers were still paying roughly 40 cents less per gallon than the national norm. De Haan has explained that inland states like Montana, sheltered from coastal export markets, absorb some cushion from global price surges that hammer seaboard states harder.

AAA data also showed regular gasoline selling for $3.49 a gallon in Montana on March 18, up from $2.74 a month ago, while diesel hit $4.40, up from $3.27 four weeks earlier. That diesel jump is significant for the freight and agricultural operators that move goods in and out of Lewis and Clark County.

Looking ahead, De Haan's projections carry a wide range depending on how the geopolitical situation resolves. "By Memorial Day if everything goes perfect, gas prices in Montana could again fall back into the low $3 a gallon range for the summer," he said. "By later this year, if everything goes, again, very well, we would eventually see prices falling back below the $3 mark." The downside scenario is equally stark: if Middle East tensions worsen or diplomatic talks collapse, De Haan warned that prices in Montana could climb closer to $4 per gallon. The last time Montana touched that level was March 2022, when the state average hit exactly $4.00 per gallon.