Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent spoke with reporters on Wednesday regarding fuel costs. He stated that gas prices may not drop below $3.00 a gallon until late September.
Oil and gas prices have skyrocketed since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28. The surge followed President Donald Trump declaring a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy questioned Bessent about when relief is coming.
“President Trump said this morning that he thinks we’re nearing the end. The U.S. kept their side on the ceasefire. We’ve stopped firing. The Strait of Hormuz have not been completely reopened, so we will see,” Bessent said.
He expressed hope for the coming months as diplomatic efforts continue. “I’m optimistic that during the summer we will see gas with a 3 in front of it sooner rather than later,” Bessent added.
Bessent noted that his Middle East counterparts provided an encouraging timeline. They advised him that oil pumping can resume within a week once the Strait of Hormuz is fully reopened.
“So not by summer like Memorial Day, but maybe by Labor Day?” Doocy asked during the press briefing.
Bessent responded with his expectations for everyday consumers. “Again, I’m optimistic that sometime between June 20th and September 20th that we can have $3 gas again and as I said this morning, too, we are going to be watching the gas stations because they raised prices very quickly when the stated when the crude oil prices went up. We hope they’ll bring them down just as quickly as crude oil prices have come down, which they’ve come down substantially just in the past 10 days,” Bessent explained.
The Trump administration has actively reversed the Biden administration’s hostility toward domestic fossil fuel production. However, the national average gas price has still climbed from $2.98 on February 28 to $4.11 on Wednesday, according to AAA.
Gas prices previously soared to a high of $5.00 a gallon in June 2022 under the Biden administration. That massive spike was largely driven by policies limiting fossil fuel production and rapid national inflation.
The previous administration initially blamed the rising costs on the war in Ukraine before accusing companies of price-gouging. Gas prices did not drop back below the $3.00 mark until Trump was sworn into office.
WTI Futures Crude Oil closed at $91.23 on Wednesday. This remains significantly higher than the $67.02 close on February 27, just before the conflict began, but is down from a recent high of $117.63.
Energy analyst David Blackmon warned that the current price increases may be long-lasting. He shared his assessment during a phone call with The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“So much damage has been done now to infrastructure and global flows of oil that it’s baked into the cake,” Blackmon told the outlet. “Prices are not going to go back to where they were before February 28. You could end this thing today. Prices are not going to go back.”