Washington (United States) (AFP) – US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday that gasoline prices appeared to have peaked after a surge linked to the Iran war — a marked shift in tone a day after President Donald Trump publicly rebuked his earlier, more cautious outlook.
“I don’t know the future of energy prices — often I will speculate or look at those things. I would say, gasoline prices, it looks like they peaked about a week or so ago,” Wright told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He said the high point was $1 a gallon cheaper than the peak during the administration of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, adding: “Yet we’re in the midst of ending a 47-year conflict in the Middle East, a major energy producing region.”
The remarks mark an abrupt pivot from comments Wright made on CNN on Sunday, when he warned that prices might not fall below $3 per gallon until next year due to disruptions in global oil flows. But Trump swiftly distanced himself from that assessment, telling politics news outlet The Hill that Wright was “totally wrong” to suggest a prolonged period of elevated prices. He said prices would fall “as soon as this ends,” referring to the Iran war. The rebuke underscores tensions within the administration as it grapples with the economic fallout from the conflict, which has rattled global energy markets.
Oil prices surged after disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz — a critical shipping chokepoint off Iran’s southern coast — pushed US gasoline above $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022. Data from AAA show the national average for regular gasoline at $4.02 on Tuesday, down slightly from $4.118 a week earlier — lending some support to Wright’s claim that prices were coming down.
Still, prices remain sharply higher than roughly $3.15 a year ago, underscoring the political sensitivity of fuel costs ahead of November’s congressional elections. The current crisis is rooted in decades of US-Iran tensions dating back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and hostage crisis. The latest flare-up has seen shipping restrictions, military pressure, and a fragile ceasefire that appeared close to expiring as of Tuesday, with no clear path to lasting resolution. While oil benchmarks have eased from recent highs, any renewed disruption in the Gulf could quickly reverse that trend.
© 2024 AFP
