Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is returning to normal, even as Iran threatened to close the critical waterway again because of Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
“I think it’s returning flows back towards normal without any cooperation at all from Iran; that’s the leverage President Trump used to get the Iranians to come to the table and realize they’re going to lose all the cards in their hand,” Mr. Wright said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Maybe they can make a deal that brings some benefit to Iran. Maybe they can’t.”
Vice President J.D. Vance, who is in Switzerland leading negotiations with Iran, said Saturday that there was no evidence that Iran had blocked the Strait of Hormuz, adding that a record-breaking amount of oil had moved through it in the past 24 hours.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil travels.
Gas prices have come down in recent days but still remain nearly $1 above pre-war prices. The national average price of gasoline stood at about $3.93 per gallon on Sunday morning, lower than $4.07 per gallon it was one week ago. However, that is roughly 70 cents lower than the $3.23 per gallon last June.
When asked when gas prices could reach pre-war levels, Mr. Wright declined to give a firm prediction.
“They will continue to head down,” he said. “Flows of oil and natural gas through the strait have already returned to normal and they will continue that way, whatever happens with the negotiations with the Iranians.”
He added that President Trump knew the war was going to drive up energy prices in the short run, but still he had “the courage to take the action anyway.”
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