White House officials are bracing for oil prices to surge past the $150-a-barrel mark as the Iran war stretches into its second month and the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, according to a new report.
In recent weeks, the average cost of a barrel of crude has hovered around $100, a figure that the Trump administration now sees as the new “baseline,” though a potential spike to $200 hasn’t been ruled out, a source familiar with the matter told Politico.
As a result, officials have entered “all hands on deck” mode, urgently evaluating options to tame soaring oil prices — which pushed gas above $4 a gallon this week and risks inflating costs across the broader economy.
The cost of diesel, the lifeblood of the U.S. economy powering freight and manufacturing, also pushed past $5 a gallon this month, marking the highest rate since 2022. Experts have warned that the elevated price of diesel, made from crude oil, will trigger knock-on effects on groceries, shipping and construction.
Around 80% of Americans live in cities, where there is nowhere to grow realistically self-sustaining quantities of food. If people can’t buy groceries because it’s no longer economically viable to ship food products to stores, what’s the point of anything else?