President Donald Trump‘s Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday declined to make predictions on gas prices falling below $3/gallon in the U.S. amid the Iran war.
Can’t Make Predictions
In an interview with NBC, Wright was asked when he thought gas prices could fall in the U.S. after he had made an earlier prediction on their movement, which was dismissed by Trump. “I can’t make predictions about that,” Wright said, adding that there could be a shift once there was a “free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He then reaffirmed the U.S.’s domestic energy sector. “The United States is in a tremendous position," Wright said, adding that it was by far the “world’s largest producer of oil.” Wright then acknowledged that gas and diesel prices were up, sharing that they will “remain up while this conflict's in place,” but said that they “will come back down…lower than they were before.”
Sean Duffy Faces Criticism
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy faced criticism after he had urged Americans to take road trips amid rising gas prices.
Duffy also defended his upcoming reality TV show, in which he is seen driving across the U.S. with his family, fending off allegations that the show was produced using taxpayer dollars.
Oil And Gas Prices
Gas prices data from the American Automobile Association (AAA) showed on Monday that the national average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. was at $4.520. Californians continue to grapple with the highest gas prices at over $6.158/gallon, the data suggests. The current national average price for a gallon of diesel, on the other hand, was $5.636. Diesel in California, on Monday, cost $7.449/gallon.
On the oil front, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $98.73/barrel at the time of writing this article. Brent, meanwhile, surged 3.43% to $104.8/barrel at press time. The United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the WTI crude, declined 0.37% to $133.10 during the after-hours trading on Friday.
Trump Rejects Iran Proposal
As tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran, Trump expressed opposition to a response by the Iranian government to a U.S.-backed peace proposal aimed at restarting negotiations. Trump took to the social media platform Truth Social to share his views. “I have just read the response … I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” He wrote.
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