In a phone interview with The Hill, Trump said Wright was “totally wrong” in suggesting gas prices might not fall below $3 per gallon until next year.

Instead, Trump tied any meaningful drop in prices to the ongoing conflict involving Iran. “As soon as this ends,” he said, indicating he expects prices to ease once tensions subside.

Wright, speaking on CNN a day earlier, struck a more cautious tone. He said it’s possible prices could dip later this year, but acknowledged it may take until 2027 depending on how the situation develops, particularly with disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz — a key global shipping route for oil.

“Prices have likely peaked and should start to come down,” Wright said, adding that a resolution to the conflict would help bring broader energy costs down.

His outlook differs from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said last week that gas prices could return to the $3 range as early as this summer.

Global oil markets have been on edge amid escalating tensions tied to Iran and shipping restrictions through the Strait of Hormuz. In the U.S., gas prices have climbed past $4 per gallon — levels not seen since the early months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. AAA reported the national average at $4 on Monday.

Oil prices also jumped after the U.S. seized an Iranian vessel near the Strait over the weekend. Brent crude rose to about $94 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate hovered near $88.

At the same time, the U.S. has been enforcing a blockade targeting Iranian ports, further tightening supply. According to Reuters, Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Asim Munir, raised concerns about the blockade during discussions with Trump, calling it a barrier to negotiations. Trump, however, disputed that account.

“He didn’t recommend anything on the blockade,” Trump said. “It’s very strong. They’re losing about $500 million a day. We control it — they don’t.”

Vice President JD Vance is expected to head a U.S. delegation to Islamabad for potential talks involving Pakistani and Iranian officials. Still, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that no final decision has been made on whether negotiations with the U.S. will move forward.

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A U.S. official said there was continued engagement with Iran, and forward motion on trying ‌to get to an agreement. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also said efforts were still under way to resolve the conflict.

But oil prices climbed back over $100 per barrel, with no sign of a swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to ease the biggest ever disruption in supplies and broader concerns over the durability of a two-week ceasefire agreement reached last week.

Trump said Iran had been in touch on Monday and wanted to make a deal but that he would not sanction any agreement allowing Tehran to have a ​nuclear weapon.

“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world.”

Since the United States and Israel began the war on February ​28, Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz to all vessels except its own, saying passage would be permitted only under Iranian control and subject to a fee.

Trump ⁠has said Washington would block Iranian vessels and any ships that paid such tolls and that any Iranian “fast-attack” ships that went near the blockade would be eliminated.

Brigadier General Reza Talaei-Nik, a spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Defence, warned ​that foreign military efforts to police the strait would escalate the crisis and instability in global energy security.

NATO allies including Britain and France said they would not be drawn into the conflict by taking part in the blockade, stressing instead ​the need to reopen the waterway, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes.

CEASEFIRE UNDER STRAIN

The ceasefire that halted six weeks of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes looked in jeopardy, with only a week left to run. Washington said Tehran rejected its demands at weekend talks in Islamabad, the highest-level discussions between the two nations since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said the blockade would be “enforced impartially against vessels of all nations” entering or leaving Iranian ports in the Gulf and Gulf of ​Oman.

“The blockade will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations,” Central Command said in a note to seafarers seen by Reuters on Monday.

Two Iranian-linked tankers, the Aurora and New Future, left the ​strait laden with oil products on Monday before the deadline, according to LSEG data.

An Iranian military spokesperson called any U.S. restrictions on international shipping “piracy,” warning that if Iranian ports were threatened, no port in the Gulf or Gulf of Oman would be ‌secure. Any military ⁠vessels approaching the strait would violate the ceasefire, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.

Trump said Iran’s navy had been “completely obliterated” during the war, adding that only a small number of “fast-attack ships” remained.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal,” Trump, much of whose communications are on social media, wrote on his microblogging site.

He was apparently referring to the U.S. strikes carried out against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. The strikes, which began in September, killed more than 160 people. The U.S. military has not provided ​evidence that the vessels were ferrying drugs.

LEBANON FACES ATTACKS

Trump ​has also lashed out at U.S.-born Pope Leo, who ⁠has spoken out against the war, denouncing him as “terrible” in a rare direct attack by a U.S. president on a pontiff.

With the war unpopular at home and rising energy prices causing political blowback, Trump paused the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign last week after threatening to destroy Iran’s “whole civilisation” unless it reopened the strait.

Israel has continued to bombard Lebanon and ​on Monday Israeli troops launched an attack it said was intended to seize a key south Lebanon town from Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel and the U.S. have said the ​campaign against Hezbollah was not part ⁠of the ceasefire, while Iran has insisted it is.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday it was deeply concerned about attacks on medical workers in Lebanon after a deadly strike on a Red Cross center in the country.

Iran has brought new demands, including recognition of its control of the waterway, lifting of sanctions and the withdrawal of forces from U.S. military bases across the Middle East.

Trump has declared victory, despite failing to achieve the objectives he set out at ⁠the start of ​the war: to eliminate Iran’s ability to strike its neighbours, end its nuclear programme and make it easier for Iranians to topple their ​government.

Benchmark oil prices, which had eased last week after the ceasefire was announced, traded around 6% higher on Monday, off the day’s peaks but still above $100 a barrel.

Traders say the main benchmarks – used to set prices for trillions of dollars’ worth of commodities worldwide – actually understate the severity ​of a disruption with no precedent in modern times.

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Gasoline prices are climbing, and many people will find some of the most immediate economic pain at the pump.

But you don’t have to drive a car to be affected. Nearly all goods — including food — that are bought and sold must travel from where they’re produced. Those costs will climb with higher gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices.

And the spike in oil prices will likely be a big factor for U.S. inflation. As the war continues, some experts say the price of, well, everything could be affected.

“The longer this lasts, the more significant the shock would be,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at consulting firm EY-Parthenon.

Here’s how the growing cost of oil and gas could impact consumers as the war continues.

At the pump: Gas prices are likely to continue climbing

Gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are made from crude oil. As the cost of crude climbs, so do the prices of those widely used products, which keep equipment, cars, buses, delivery trucks and airplanes running.

Across the U.S., drivers were paying an average of $3.48 for a gallon of regular gasoline Monday, compared with $2.98 before the war started. Prices have increased about 17% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

Prices vary across states. In California, drivers were paying $5.20, up 12% from a week ago. Some of California’s refineries have shut down in recent years, so the massive state relies on imports of gasoline and other refined products from Asia.

By contrast, the average price in Louisiana, which has oil production and refineries, was $3.04.

The spike in oil prices is likely to further push up gasoline prices, and could be felt more significantly in Asia and Europe, which are more dependent on Middle Eastern oil and gas than the United States.

The cost of shipping and goods increases alongside the price of diesel

The price of diesel — which powers 18-wheeler trucks — climbed Monday, too: to $4.65 a gallon in the U.S., a 23% jump since the war started.

“Can’t underscore what a massive jolt this is to the logistics, trucking, (agriculture) sectors,” Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, wrote on X Monday.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that carries a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquified natural gas, already has caused problems for the shipping industry. Quickly rising oil and gas prices will add to the burden.

Fuel prices account for 50% to 60% of the total operating cost of shipping goods by ship, according to Patrick Penfield, professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University, so higher fuel prices have a huge effect on the industry.

“When fuel prices start to go up, everything starts to slow down,” Penfield said. “So your ships slow down, your trucks slow down. People are less apt to ship things via air. And it really kind of causes a drag on the economy when fuel price go up.”

Fuel surcharges will also rise — as shipping companies aim to pass along higher costs to their customers, ultimately making goods more expensive.

Home energy bills will probably rise, and items made from plastic could cost more

Heating your home and cooking food with natural gas are also likely to cost more as the war grinds on.

Europe’s benchmark natural gas rose 75% since the war began, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange.

That could also affect the cost of products made from natural gas, such as petrochemical feedstock. It’s used to make plastic and rubber, as well as nitrogen fertilizer.

Eventually, groceries might be more expensive, too

The spike in oil prices likely won’t be felt immediately at U.S. grocery stores, said David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University. But if oil prices remain high for a month or more, he said, “we’re in different territory.”

Higher oil prices impact the agricultural sector in two ways, Ortega said. They raise the cost of inputs such as fuel for farm equipment and the fertilizer, which is derived from natural gas. They also raise demand for soybean oil, palm oil and other vegetable oils that can be used as replacements for petroleum-based fuel.

But Ortega said on-farm costs are only a small part of what consumers pay at the supermarket. A larger share comes from the cost of processing and transporting food, which uses a lot of energy.

“Food gets to the grocery store on diesel, whether it’s on a truck or on a boat,” Ortega said.

If oil prices remain elevated, fresh foods that must be transported quickly could see price hikes more quickly than packaged foods, which are less perishable, Ortega said.

If inflation rises, everything gets more expensive

With U.S. oil prices increasing by roughly 42% from their pre-war levels, to roughly $95 a barrel from about $67 before the conflict, that could push up inflation in the United States from 2.4% in January to 3% or higher in the coming months, according to a rough estimate by economists at JPMorgan.

Economist Daco, of EY-Parthenon, estimated that the bump in gas prices could push monthly inflation to as high as 1% in March, which would be the highest monthly increase in four years. Yearly inflation would near 3% in that case.

“That’s a significant shock in and of itself,” Daco said.

Some experts say consumer spending will decrease

Mark Mathews, chief economist and executive director of research at the National Retail Federation, said higher gas prices would likely affect consumer spending, particularly lower-income shoppers.

U.S. households pay on average $2,500 a year, or nearly $50 a week, to fill up their tank, he said. If consumers are paying, say, $10 more per week, he said, their budgets are certainly affected.

“How do they offset that?” he said. “Going out to a movie theater or going to a theme park or going out to eat — all those areas would be … more likely see cuts.”

Some see hope that prices stay down — for now

Mathews expects that retailers will absorb higher transportation costs for a while — as many did with higher tariff s — before they increase prices.

Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti warned against passing along higher energy costs to consumers, recalling the lessons learned after Russia invaded Ukraine.

“We must act immediately to stop energy prices from spreading to all consumer goods, as happened in 2022,” he told a Monday G7 meeting in Brussels, according to a statement from his office.

Ed Anderson, a professor of supply chain and operations management for the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, said shippers won’t immediately pass on costs to customers.

“If the conflict is only in the short run, companies will eat it,” he said.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia said Monday that it “won’t bear any responsibility” for a shortage in global oil supplies after a fierce barrage of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels affected production in the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter.

The unusually stark warning marked a departure from the giant oil producer’s typically cautious statements, as Saudi officials remain aware that even their smallest comments can swing the price of oil and rattle global markets.

The salvo of rebel attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities marked a serious escalation in the war, which erupted in 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. Saudi Arabia and its allies responded with a devastating air campaign to dislodge the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government.

Seven years later, the conflict has turned into a bloody stalemate and spawned one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency quoted the Saudi Foreign Ministry as saying that the kingdom “declares that it will not bear any responsibility for any shortage in oil supplies to global markets in light of the attacks on its oil facilities.”

The announcement comes as the kingdom remains in lockstep with OPEC and other oil-producing countries in a deal limiting production increases. Gulf Arab oil producers have so far resisted pressure from the Biden administration to pump more crude to help bring down oil prices that have soared amid Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Already, gasoline prices have hit record highs around the world. Gas prices in the U.S. topped $4.25 on Monday, according to auto club AAA, just below the historic record of $4.33 reached earlier this month.

“The international community must assume its responsibility to preserve energy supplies,” the Saudi statement added, in order to deter attacks that jeopardize “the kingdom’s production capability and its ability to fulfill its commitments.”

The international oil benchmark Brent crude hovered over $112 a barrel in trading Monday, up more than 4% for the preceding session. The price remained below a peak of nearly $140 hit earlier this month, but still some $15 a barrel more than before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On Sunday, Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels launched one of their most intense series of attacks targeting the kingdom’s oil and natural gas production, sparking a fire at a petroleum distribution center in the port of Jiddah, the country’s second-largest city, and disrupting production at a petrochemicals complex in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast.

The overall extent of damage at the installations remained unclear. The Saudi Energy Ministry acknowledged a temporary drop in oil output at the 400,000-barrel-a-day Yanbu site, without elaborating.

The government condemned the attacks as a threat to the security of global oil supplies “in these extremely sensitive circumstances.” Even before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, global energy supplies were struggling to keep pace with surging post-pandemic demand. The West’s punitive sanctions on Moscow, among the world’s largest oil producers and exporters, unleashed more turmoil on the market.

The relentless wave of Houthi strikes began before dawn Sunday and sporadically pounded sites throughout the kingdom’s south and west for hours, with the roar and thump of missile interceptors rattling residents in Jiddah until just before midnight.

The attacks on installations run by the state-controlled national oil company Aramco, among the world’s most significant and valuable companies, exposed the gaps in Saudi defenses and recalled the dramatic attacks on two key oil installations in the country’s east that temporarily knocked out half of Saudi Arabia’s total oil production.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for that sophisticated attack in September 2019, which the U.S. and Riyadh later blamed on Iran. Even after shrapnel blasted through the critical Abqaiq oil processing facility, Saudi Arabia delivered no such similar warning about its responsibility for global oil supplies and swinging prices. Instead the kingdom stressed it would speedily return to normal levels of production.

After Sunday’s strikes, a senior administration official confirmed that the United States has transferred a significant number of Patriot antimissile interceptors to help Saudi Arabia thwart the barrage of Houthi drone and missile attacks.

“We condemn the weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Iran-supported Houthis and will continue to help Saudi Arabia defend its territory,” tweeted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “These are attacks against civilians, and they must end.”

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TOKYO (AP) — Oil prices jumped and shares were sharply lower Monday as the conflict in Ukraine deepened amid mounting calls for harsher sanctions against Russia.

Brent crude oil briefly surged above $130 a barrel but was trading around $125 a barrel later Monday. Benchmark U.S. crude also bounced, gaining $10 and then giving up some of that advance.

European markets opened lower and U.S. futures were down 1.7%. The price of gold surged above $2,000 an ounce as investors bought the precious metal viewed as a safe haven in times of crisis.

Russian forces were pummeling some Ukrainian cities with rockets even after Moscow announced another cease-fire and proposed a handful of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee Ukraine starting Monday.

A similar temporary cease-fire in two Ukrainian cities failed over the weekend — and both sides blamed each other.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House was exploring legislation to further isolate Russia from the global economy, including banning the import of its oil and energy products into the U.S.

Oil prices came under additional pressure after Libya’s national oil company said an armed group had shut down two crucial oil fields. The move caused the country’s daily oil output to drop by 330,000.

But reports said U.S. officials may be considering easing sanctions against Venezuela. That potentially could free up more crude oil and ease concerns about reduced supplies from Russia.

U.S. crude jumped $6.92 to $122.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The all-time high was marked in July 2008, when the price per barrel of U.S. crude climbed to $145.29.

That pushed the average price for gasoline in the U.S. above $4 a gallon, a milestone already reached again. The price of regular gasoline rose almost 41 cents, breaking $4 per gallon (3.8 liters) on average across the U.S. on Sunday for the first time since 2008, according to the AAA motor club.

Brent crude, the international pricing standard, hit $139.13 per barrel before falling back Monday. It was trading up $6.57 at $124.68 a barrel in London.

In early European trading, France’s CAC 40 dipped 3% to 5,879.70, while Germany’s DAX lost 3.2% to 12,675.43. Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 1.4% to 6,890.71. U.S. shares were set to start the week lower, with the futures for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 down 1.8%.

Higher fuel costs are devastating for Japan, which imports almost all its energy. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 2.9% to 25,221.41.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 3.9% to 21,057.63, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 2.3% to 2,651.31. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.0% to 7,038.60. while the Shanghai Composite lost 2.2% to 3,372.86.

“The Ukraine-Russia conflict will continue to dominate market sentiments and no signs of conflict resolution thus far may likely put a cap on risk sentiments into the new week,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore.

“It should be clear by now that economic sanctions will not deter any aggression from the Russians, but will serve more as a punitive measure at the expense of implication on global economic growth. Elevated oil prices may pose a threat to firms’ margins and consumer spending outlook,” Yeap said.

China reported Monday that its exports rose by double digits in January and February before Russia’s attack on Ukraine roiled the global economy.

Customs data show exports grew by 16.3% over a year earlier in a sign global demand was recovering before President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion. Imports advanced 15.5% despite a Chinese economic slowdown that the war threatens to worsen.

China’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Keqiang, warned Saturday global conditions are “volatile, grave and uncertain” and achieving Beijing’s economic goals will require “arduous efforts.”

Markets worldwide have swung wildly recently on worries about how high prices for oil, wheat and other commodities produced in the region will go because of Russia’s invasion, inflaming the world’s already high inflation.

The list of companies exiting Russia has grown to include Mastercard, Visa and American Express, as well as Netflix.

The conflict in Ukraine also threatens the food supply in some regions, including Europe, Africa and Asia, which rely on the vast, fertile farmlands of the Black Sea region, known as the “breadbasket of the world.”

Wall Street finished last week with shares falling despite a much stronger report on U.S. jobs than economists expected. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 4,328.87, posting its third weekly loss in the last four. It is now down just under 10% from its record set early this year.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 115.08 Japanese yen from 114.86 yen. The euro cost $1.0830, down from $1.0926.

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