Struggling to deal with the surge in gas prices since the Iran War began? A senior oil industry executive has a two-word suggestion: “drive less.” Headlight.News has more.
Fuel prices have barely moved in recent days, despite a fragile truce in the Iran War. And that means Americans continue paying an average of more than $4 a gallon for self-serve regular gasoline. Measured another way, that’s increasing the typical household’s fuel bill by as much as $20 a tank.
With inflation hitting everything from food to housing and medical care, that’s leaving many families struggling to decide which bills to pay. But a senior oil industry exec came up with an alternative solution during an appearance on CBS News.
“People should try to drive less,” said Andy Walz, president of downstream, midstream, and chemicals at Chevron.
Prices have come down…barely
If there’s any good news, it’s the fact that fuel prices have come down by about a dime a gallon since the Trump administration agreed to put a 10-day hold on its bombing campaign. But the typical U.S. motorist is still spending $1.06 more than before the war began on February 28 at $4.049 as of noon Friday, according to GasBuddy.com. The AAA reported a slightly higher average of $4.076.
The typical motorist uses at least 11 gallons a week, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration though, for many, its closer to 20 gallons. And with the average American household owning 1.83 to 2.20 vehicles, that means the war is siphoning at least $20 out of home budgets every week.
The increase is even more for anyone driving a diesel vehicle. The average price per gallon now stands at $5.62, up from $3,81 on February 27. And the impact here is being felt across the economy, notably by driving up shipping costs on everything from eggs to Amazon Prime packages.
Let them eat cake
A Buc-ees service station with close to 100 pumps.
“People should try to drive less. They should try to conserve energy,” Chevron’s Walz told CBS. “We should be doing that all the time.”
Walz added that there’s “no silver bullet” to bring prices back down – certainly not with crude oil prices hovering at or above $90 a barrel. That is down from the $144 a barrel peak Brent Crude hit shortly after the war began.
But energy analysts note that even when crude oil prices drop it can take some time before that translates into a reduction at the pump.
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Prices could remain high through summer
For its part, the Trump administration has warned that fuel prices could remain well above pre-war levels for some time. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday warned that prices could remain high into the summer.
Whether they do come down again – or, indeed, whether they bounce back up – will depend on what happens in the coming days. The White House has signaled talks with Iran could lead to some sort of breakthrough. But Trump has issued a series of false and misleading comments over the past five weeks that raise questions about what might happen next. On a more positive note, Israel’s decision to temporarily halt bombing raids in Lebanon raise prospects of seeing oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz resume.
Chevron’s Walz suggested to a CBS reporter that oil prices could have gone even higher if not for the industry’s renewed access to Venezuelan oil following the U.S. raid that led to the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro.
“I’m not going to say a lot more, but we would be paying more,” said Walz, without that new supply.
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