NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – President Trump announced a new deal with Iran extending the ceasefire for another two months, but drivers hoping for immediate relief at the pump may have to wait.
Over the past couple months, people have been feeling pain at the pump. With the Strait of Hormuz possibly reopening, people are hoping gas prices will fall.
Auricle Morgan works two jobs and volunteers. She said the war with Iran has been hitting her wallet hard.
“A lot. A lot. I cannot afford it,” Morgan said.
Morgan said she works in Nashville and LaVergne and has to drive a lot.
“I wouldn’t even mind if it was $3.00, I’m going to be honest,” she said.
Loretta Jones said she has no choice, especially when medical care is on the line.
“The last couple of months, it has been going up… up and up and up,” Jones said.
Jones said it can be very hard, especially when taking her mother and herself back and forth to the doctors.
AAA calls it a roller coaster. The conflict with the U.S. and Iran escalated in the March-April timeframe.
“We’ve seen a lot of significant increases. We’ve seen, you know, we’ll increase one week, we’ll decrease the next week. So we’ve seen a lot of fluctuation in our gas prices,” said Megan Cooper, spokesperson for AAA.
Cooper said over the last several weeks, there have been some declines in local gas prices due to lowering crude oil prices.
“We’re still at four-year highs for gas prices. We’re still almost a dollar more expensive than what we were paying last year,” Cooper said. “But this is a much welcome break compared to the prices that we were paying a few weeks ago.”
Cooper said Tennessee still ranks among the lowest average gas prices in the country.
Crude oil prices dropping
Since the announcement of the potential opening of the Strait of Hormuz, crude oil prices have dropped.
“Typically, when we see big swings in crude oil prices, we see our gas prices follow suit,” Cooper said.
Cooper said the price changes take time to get through the market to local gas pumps. She said it is not something that happens overnight.
“Assuming that the Strait does reopen at some point this week, it’s really going to depend how the market is going to react to that,” Cooper said. “Very likely, we’re going to see another drop in crude oil prices, and any time we see those significant drops in crude oil prices, we see that reflected in the price that we pay at the gas pump.”
Cooper said about 60% of the price at the pump is made up of crude oil.
Relief will take time
Even with President Trump’s deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Cooper said relief will not be instant.
“It’s not a magical switch that will instantly put things back to normal,” Cooper said. “It will take time for, you know, the shipments to resume through the Strait, it’s going to take time to get that infrastructure back up and running. So it’s going to take, you know, weeks, maybe a little bit longer, for that area to return to what it was like before the conflict.”
Cooper said it depends on what the market does. If crude oil prices continue to drop, it is likely declines will continue at the gas pump as well.
For drivers, Cooper said to continue taking advantage of savings wherever possible, including fuel reward savings programs and paying attention to driving habits.
“Gas is still expensive, even though we’re getting a nice little break,” Cooper said. “So for drivers, continue to take advantage of those savings at the pump where you can.”
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