US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright has warned that petrol prices are likely to remain elevated as the fallout from the war on Iran will continue to impact the economy and global energy markets.
Wright stated that prices may stay above $3 per gallon into next year despite expectations they have already peaked.
“Gas below $3 a gallon could happen later this year, that might not happen until next year. But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down.”
Chris Wright
The national average currently stands at $4.05 per gallon, significantly higher than a year ago. Wright said that a sustained drop will depend on an end to the war, warning instability will continue to keep prices high.
The war has created the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history, sending oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil shipments had transited before the war.
Friday’s announcement that the strait would reopen caused one of the sharpest one-day drops in oil prices in history, and stock markets hit all-time highs on the expectation the disruptions would soon end.
However, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said on Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed again, less than 24 hours after it was reopened. It said that it would remain so until the US lifts its naval blockade on Iranian vessels and ports.
Pressure for a way out of the war has mounted on Trump as his fellow Republicans prepare to defend their narrow majorities in Congress in the November midterm elections with US petrol prices high, inflation rising and Trump’s approval ratings down.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announced that United States negotiators will travel to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday for talks aimed at ending the US-Israel war on Iran.
In a post on social media on today, Trump didn’t detail which officials the US would send to a second round of in-person talks with Iranian negotiators in Islamabad. Last weekend’s talks, at which Vice President JD Vance led the US delegation, ended without a deal.
In his post, Trump accused Iran of violating a two-week ceasefire that is due to expire on Wednesday by opening fire yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz. The US President threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if it doesn’t accept the terms of the deal being offered by the US. “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
An Iranian news agency reported that there is currently no decision by Iran to send a negotiating delegation to Pakistan “as long as there is a naval blockade” on Iranian ports.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the US naval blockade is a violation of the ceasefire as well as an “unlawful and criminal” act. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei wrote in a post on X, “The United States’ so-called ‘blockade’ of Iran’s ports or coastline is not only a violation of Pakistani-mediated ceasefire but also both unlawful and criminal.”
“Moreover, by deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to war crime and crime against humanity.”
Esmaeil Baghaei
Strait Of Hormuz, Iran’s Nuclear Programme Remain Sticking Points
The Strait of Hormuz and the future of Iran’s nuclear programme remain key sticking points in the negotiations.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said that while there was “significant progress made” during talks last weekend, a framework of understanding has to be agreed before they continue. He also described US demands on Iran’s nuclear programme as “maximalist.”
The Speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on Saturday night, “There are many gaps and some fundamental points remain,” adding, “We are still far from the final discussion.”
Ghalibaf, one of Iran’s top negotiators, called Washington’s blockade “ignorant” and “foolish”, saying that Tehran would not allow others to transit the strait if its own ships were blocked. He also said that Iranian forces are “fully prepared” for the US to resume hostilities at any moment.
Additionally, Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, said today that Trump cannot justify depriving Tehran of what he called its “nuclear rights.”
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