President Donald Trump has claimed higher oil prices are a “small price to pay” for global security as his energy secretary acknowledged that Americans may feel pain at the gas pump “for weeks” — but assured them it wouldn’t last longer.
Since the U.S. and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iran last weekend, oil prices have surged, recording their largest one‑week spike since March 1983.
The increase showed no signs of abating Sunday. Oil prices surpassed the $100-a-barrel milestone for the first time in more than three-and a-half years as the Iran war hinders production and shipping in the Middle East.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” the president wrote on Truth Social Sunday.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright acknowledged that Americans may feel pain at the gas pump “for weeks.”
“Gasoline today is still $1.50 a gallon cheaper than it was in the middle of the Biden administration,” Wright told CNN Sunday.
But he acknowledged that it was too high for Americans struggling with the cost of living. “We want it back below $3 a gallon. And it will be again before too long,” the energy chief said.
“What do you mean by too long?” asked CNN anchor Jake Tapper. “How much longer?”
“You never know exactly the time frame of this, but, in the worst case, this is a weeks, this is not a months thing,” Wright said.
Wright, the former CEO of fracking firm Liberty Energy, also suggested that the market’s underlying anxiety is not justified.
“You’re seeing a little bit of fear premium in the marketplace, but the world is not short of oil today or natural gas,” he said.
Trump has appeared blasé about the rise in gas prices since the conflict began. He acknowledged Tuesday that pump prices would be higher “for a little while.” By Thursday, his stance had hardened, as he told Reuters: “If they rise, they rise.”
Behind the scenes, the Trump administration is “looking under every rock for ideas on improving energy prices,” an unnamed industry executive told Politico this week.
The executive added that Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had been “screamed at” to find “good news.” The White House dismissed the story as “unverified gossip.”
A Marist poll conducted earlier this month found that most Americans, 56 percent, oppose U.S. military action in Iran. At the same time, the public has major concerns about affordability, with over half of voters describing health care, a new car and a weeklong vacation as unaffordable, according to a late February Ipsos survey.
On Sunday, Brent crude — the global benchmark — traded at $101.19 a barrel, shortly after markets reopened on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, marking a 9.2 percent rise from Friday.
U.S.-produced West Texas Intermediate stood around $107.06 per barrel, climbing more than 16 percent from Friday. The surge follows a dramatic 36 percent spike in U.S. crude prices last week.
Multiple experts and foreign officials have warned that prices could keep climbing.
On Sunday, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, estimated that there’s an 80 percent chance the national average price of gasoline will reach $4 in the next month. The U.S. average currently stands at $3.45, according to AAA.
Goldman Sachs estimated the price of oil could shoot up to as high as $150 per barrel by the end of the month. And Qatar’s energy minister warned that the Iran war could lead to a dramatic spike in oil prices and “bring down the economies of the world.”
Gas prices have long been vulnerable to geopolitical conflicts, largely due to impacts on oil supply chains, including shipping lanes and refineries. The Iran war, which has embroiled the broader Middle East region, is no exception.
Since the war began in late February, tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has sharply declined. The waterway, located along southern Iran, is a critical chokepoint through which about 20 percent of global oil supplies travel, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Kuwait also began slashing production at multiple oil fields “after running out of room to store its bottled-up crude,” The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
But there are also broader trends at play that could be impacting domestic gas prices. AAA noted that prices tend to tick up in the spring as demand increases.
