Trump Says Hormuz No Longer Impacts Gas Prices. Is He Right?
A projectile hit a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, setting its engine room on fire. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump claims that the strait is no longer why Americans pay more for gas.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO), which logs attacks on merchant ships, said the crew was fighting an engine room blaze. It was the agency’s 10th incident notice since October 1.
Who Trump Blamed for Gas Prices
According to US President Donald Trump, constraints at the Strait of Hormuz were no longer the reason Americans are paying more at the pump. Instead, he pointed at refineries.
“What’s driving up Gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because Record Numbers of Barrels are coming out now on an almost daily basis, but the word, ‘Refineries,’ where Russia’s are being blown up by Ukraine, and where ours are being closed up, in Blue States, like California, by the Dumocrats,” the President wrote on Truth Social.
Part of that is true. Middle East crude exports averaged 18.5 million barrels a day in the week to October 1, above pre-war levels, Kpler data shows.
However, the ships keep getting hit. Monday’s fire came days after another Hormuz tanker attack rattled markets.
What the Oil Charts Show
US crude sat near $66 a barrel on February 27, the last trading day before US and Israeli strikes on Iran. It ended Monday near $91.57, TradingView data shows.
Brent, the global benchmark, rose from about $67 to $104. Wholesale gasoline climbed from about $2.30 to $3.20 a gallon. All three spiked in spring, dipped in July and jumped again in September.
At the pump, regular cost $4.37 a gallon on Monday, up from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA.
Do Russia and California Explain It?
Ukraine’s drones have battered Russian refineries. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says Russian diesel output fell nearly 30%. Moscow has banned diesel exports by producers through October 31.
US diesel cost $6.32 a gallon, nearly $2 more than gasoline. Banks have warned a US diesel export ban would push gasoline higher still.
California’s two closed refineries processed about 284,000 barrels a day, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) says. That is under 2% of US capacity.
On Monday, the Group of Seven (G7) agreed to release 100 million barrels of emergency oil. Americans vote in the midterm elections on November 3.