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Energy Secretary Chris Wright also appeared at a hearing on Wednesday and withdrew one of his comments on weekends<\/a> US gasoline prices could remain above $3 per gallon until next year A suggestion that Trump publicly rejected<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I never said gas prices wouldn’t go down next year,” Wright said at the hearing. “Never, never said anything like that. There was a thing in the news that I said they couldn’t go below $3 a gallon. … I left some uncertainty in there.”<\/p>\n Asked about fuel prices, Wright also said, “No one can make guarantees about the future.” Instead he pointed out that pump prices are still below their peak during the Biden administration.<\/p>\n Wright said earlier<\/a> Energy prices will remain high until “meaningful” ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz resumes.<\/p>\n Republicans acknowledged on Wednesday how challenging it is for the administration to predict an accurate timeline for prices, but they also supported the administration’s efforts to confront Iran.<\/p>\n “My advice to you is to stay away from this business of how fast the price of gas is going to go down. I don’t want to get into that issue,” Sen. john kennedy<\/a> (R-La.) told Wright. “The safest thing to say is ‘soon’.”<\/p>\n Trump officials and the president himself have so far frequently predicted that a war with Iran would end in a matter of weeks with energy Prices will fall soon<\/a>. But Iranian attacks on oil tankers attempting to transit through the Strait of Hormuz and the will-they-or-won’t they dynamics of international peace talks have pushed prices up by more than a third since the US and Israel began attacking Iran. Oil prices, which drive gasoline prices, also remain volatile \u2013 just as drivers are about to hit the road for summer vacations.<\/p>\n Interior Secretary Doug Burgum barely addressed the war or energy prices at another Senate hearing on Wednesday. Almost exactly a month ago, he predicted that increased energy prices would happen in a matter of weeks, not months.<\/p>\n on monday, During a separate appearance on the hill<\/a>Burgum blamed Democratic policies like those in California that led to particularly high prices, and drew a distinction between today’s prices and higher, extreme prices under former President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Democrats accused the administration of obscuring the truth about why prices were low. Sen Richard Blumenthal<\/a> (D-Conn.) told reporters that Wright “spoke the truth” when he said oil prices might not drop before the end of the year.<\/p>\n “This is the consensus of the experts,” Blumenthal said. “They spoke the truth until Donald Trump, who is their listener, pulled their chain, and I think they may deny it, but consumers know from the gasoline pumps they pass every day what the reality is.”<\/p>\n Oil industry executives and analysts have warned that prices are likely to remain high long after the fighting ends. Persian Gulf countries will need to repair oil fields and export facilities that Iran has destroyed, and Shippers will probably be careful<\/a> Crossing the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n “The best-case scenario for (shipping) to return to pre-war levels would be June \u2014 and that scenario is based on a solid, long-term deal being finalized between the U.S. and Iran in the next few weeks,” Pavel Molchanov, energy industry analyst at Raymond James, said in an email. \u201cThe longer it takes to reach such an agreement, the longer it will take for shipping to return to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n Besant reiterated the administration’s existing claim that the price rise was only temporary.<\/p>\n But his assurances come as his department takes steps that tacitly acknowledge that the war will have a long-term impact on the economy.<\/p>\n last week, he vowed<\/a> The department would not relax restrictions to allow the sale of Russian crude in the waters beforehand, only to do so days later. Clearview Energy Partners, a research firm, called the reversal “a tacit administration recognition of the dire global oil supply conditions that are likely to persist.”<\/p>\n Besant told senators on Wednesday that she had planned to let the waiver expire, but she was contacted by “more than 10 of the most vulnerable and poorest countries in terms of energy” who asked her to extend the sanctions relief.<\/p>\n “Just as you are concerned about gasoline prices, we are concerned about the American consumer and our Asian allies,” he told senators. chris koons<\/a> (D-Del.). By relieving restrictions on oil in transit “the Treasury was able to make more than 250 million barrels on the water”.<\/p>\n Besant also said that countries in the region and Asia have worked with the Treasury Department to set up swap lines, suggesting the conflict could have a long-term impact on economies in the Middle East and beyond. In conversation with the senator Chris Van Hollen<\/a> (D-Md.), Besant played down recent reports<\/a> The UAE asked the Treasury for a currency swap line, as the Emirati economy and financial system had experienced stress from the war.<\/p>\n “Many of our Gulf allies have requested swap lines,” Besant said, adding that Asian allies have also discussed setting them up. “Swap lines, whether from the Federal Reserve or the Treasury, are meant to maintain order in the dollar funding market and prevent disorderly sales of US assets. The swap lines will benefit both the UAE and the US”<\/p>\n Still, concerns about high energy prices have grown across the country.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/71\/d8\/aea36ccb482a8a9b3965258eaf08\/u-s-congress-69863.jpg\")
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