{"id":282785,"date":"2026-09-08T01:03:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/282785\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T01:03:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:03:18","slug":"oil-prices-hit-six-week-high-amid-us-iran-conflict-but-drivers-could-soon-get-relief-at-the-pump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/282785\/","title":{"rendered":"Oil prices hit six-week high amid US-Iran conflict — but drivers could soon get relief at the pump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crude jumped to its highest level in six weeks Monday as fresh fighting between the US and Iran<\/a> stoked supply fears \u2014 even as an oil industry expert predicted American motorists could soon get a break at the pump.<\/p>\n

Brent gained 1.5% to $97.73 a barrel after touching $97.93, a level last seen July 23. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 1.8% to $93.10, marking the highest price since late July.<\/p>\n

Crude climbed after another weekend of fighting between the US and Iran, while reported attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities Monday added to uncertainty over Middle East energy supplies.<\/a><\/p>\n

Oil markets are closely watching tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz as renewed fighting between the US and Iran threatens Middle East energy supplies. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Despite the turmoil, Andrew Lipow, president of Houston-based Lipow Oil Associates, told The Post he expects US gasoline prices to decline as refiners switch from costly summer-grade fuel to cheaper winter blends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere actually is a little bit of good news on the horizon for most of the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of the country will be transitioning to winter-grade gasoline, and that\u2019s a good 20 cents a gallon cheaper than the prices we see in the wholesale market today,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Barring a significant increase in crude prices or a widening of Middle East hostilities, Lipow expects gasoline prices to begin declining in October.<\/p>\n

Diesel users, however, could face a much tougher autumn.<\/p>\n

Demand is poised to increase during the agricultural harvest and as the Northeast heads into the home-heating season, according to Lipow.<\/p>\n

Soaring fuel prices in Southern California could increase the cost of moving imported goods through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

Diesel inventories in New England and the Southeast are at their lowest levels since the Department of Energy began reporting the data in November 1990, the expert said.<\/p>\n

The squeeze has been exacerbated by damage to refineries in the Middle East, which Lipow said will take months to repair, as well as Ukrainian drone strikes that he said have knocked out 40% to 60% of Russian refining capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese events between the Middle East and Russia have impacted about eight percent of the world\u2019s diesel supplies,\u201d Lipow said.<\/p>\n

For consumers, Lipow said the price of crude alone fails to capture the severity of the crunch in refined fuels.<\/p>\n

While US crude was trading around $93 a barrel, Lipow calculated wholesale gasoline at roughly $135 a barrel and wholesale diesel at $196 a barrel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consumer is going to experience sticker shock when they get that first home heating oil bill,\u201d Lipow said, noting that retail diesel prices in Maine and Massachusetts are more than $2 a gallon above year-ago levels.<\/p>\n

American motorists could get some relief at the pump despite crude oil prices climbing to a six-week high Monday. CHRIS TORRES\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The strain comes even after strategic petroleum reserve releases, commercial inventory drawdowns and demand destruction in Asia helped cushion the market, Lipow said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t rely on inventories forever, and that\u2019s really the concern,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With East Coast diesel supplies already depleted, Lipow warned that another shock could make matters worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re one hurricane away from a significant supply disruption,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The US military struck three Iranian oil tankers Saturday after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two Navy warships, according to US Central Command.<\/p>\n

CENTCOM said the Iranian vessels were part of a \u201cmultibillion-dollar shadow network\u201d that funds Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard and regional proxies.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks on commercial vessels as a \u201cwar crime\u201d and an act of \u201ceconomic warfare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consumers in the Northeast face elevated diesel and heating-oil costs as the region heads toward the winter heating season. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The escalation continued Monday as Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned on X, \u201cStrike our assets and you get struck.\u201d<\/p>\n

His post came in response to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said the US \u201cwill destroy (and sink)\u201d Iranian oil tankers if Tehran fires on American vessels.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco facilities were hit in fresh attacks Monday, according to a Financial Times report. Damage was being assessed at a facility in Jizan, home to a 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery, and responsibility for the attack was not immediately clear, the report said.<\/p>\n

The Post has sought comment from the White House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crude jumped to its highest level in six weeks Monday as fresh fighting between the US and Iran…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[328,897,34,213,261],"class_list":["post-282785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-business","tag-gas","tag-iran","tag-oil","tag-oil-prices"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117232730364392734","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}