A week after it began its strikes on Iran, the Trump administration’s efforts to stem the rise in energy prices have yet to turn the tide — and analysts warn the worst of the price shocks may still be to come.
The U.S. benchmark oil price topped $110 late Sunday night — the first time it hit that mark since 2022 in the wake of Russia ‘s invasion of Ukraine — before falling to just over $100 a barrel on reports that G-7 nations would consider tapping reserves. The price increase has already started to appear for American consumers, with prices at the gas pump up 32 cents a gallon from a week ago.
The unyielding price increases — which analysts attributed to the continued disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s crude passes each day — comes as President Donald Trump is under rising pressure to contain the economic impact of the war on Americans, eight months ahead of the midterms, where affordability issues are top of mind.
“Crude WILL go to $200 [a barrel], en route higher, unless traffic through the Strait resumes,” said Rory Johnston, an oil analyst who writes the newsletter Commodity Context, in a post on X. “Not clickbait, but rather brutal physics and necessary economic incentives.”
