Trump’s team stated that the rise in gasoline prices will last “only a few weeks.”
9 March 01:16
On Sunday, March 8, representatives of the Trump administration defended the decision to temporarily lift some sanctions on Russian oil and predicted that the sharp rise in gasoline prices caused by the war in Iran would last only a few weeks.
This was reported by Reuters.
Appearing on several television talk shows, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said that lifting sanctions to allow India to buy Russian oil would ease pressure on the global market.
“This is a 30-day pause that allows, quite logically, millions of barrels of oil on ships to reach Indian refineries,” Waltz said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Wright said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that waiving sanctions could help “alleviate fears of oil shortages, curb price spikes and the anxiety we’re seeing in the market.”
As of Friday, the average price of regular gasoline in the country was $3.32 per gallon, up 11% from a week earlier and the highest since September 2024, according to the AAA auto association.
The price of diesel fuel was $4.33, up 15% from a week earlier and the highest since November 2023.
“We think it’s a small price to pay to return to a world where energy prices are back to where they used to be,” Wright said on Fox News Sunday.
There is no shortage of oil or natural gas, Wright said, arguing that the price increase is based on “fear and perception” that the operation in Iran will be prolonged.
“But that’s not the case,” Wright said, echoing President Donald Trump’s prediction that the war would last weeks, not months.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump predicted that gasoline prices would “come down very quickly” once the war ended.
