The ongoing war in Iran continues to drive up global oil prices, pushing the U.S. national average for unleaded gasoline to nearly $4 a gallon.
According to AAA, the national average for a price of unleaded gasoline ticked up to $3.99 on Monday. That is an increase from $2.98 per gallon one month ago.
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However, there has been slight progress in getting oil through the Strait of Hormuz — the crucial waterway that typically sees about one-fifth of the world's oil supply pass through it and has been effectively shut down since the war with Iran began. Pakistani officials said Iran agreed to allow two oil ships to pass through the strait each day.
While this could stabilize global oil prices, it remains nowhere near the typical amount of oil that passes through the waterway on a given day. And experts warn that the war's impact on the global oil market has been so significant that the effects will likely last weeks or even months after the war comes to an end.
Meanwhile, the timeline for when the war will end remains unclear. President Donald Trump claimed Monday that Iran has seen regime change and that there have been "very good negotiations" with a "new and more reasonable regime" in Tehran. However, he also threatened to target the country's energy infrastructure if a deal is not made soon to open the Strait of Hormuz.
"Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched,'" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. "This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year 'Reign of Terror.'"
