Energy Secretary Chris Wright testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the budget request for the Energy Department on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 13, 2026. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Aug. 17 that the U.S. government will announce measures to help refiners increase fuel production as the administration seeks to bring down gasoline prices.
Wright told reporters at Midland, Texas, that while U.S. refineries have been running at record levels, fuel prices remain high as the war in Iran continues to disrupt global oil supplies.
“The United States refineries are running at record high, but we have refineries in the Middle East that are turned down,” he said.
Wright said the U.S. government aims to “further ramp up” refinery output and that he plans to discuss with refiners possible steps to boost production.
Gasoline prices remain above levels seen before the conflict with Iran erupted in February. The national average price for regular gasoline rose to $4.06 per gallon on Aug. 17, from $3.98 a month ago, according to AAA. But they are still below the recorded high of $5.02 per gallon on June 14, 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The national average price for regular gasoline was $2.98 on Feb. 28, the day when the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran, triggering the war that disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil and gas shipments.
President Donald Trump said during an Aug. 14 rally in Garden City, New York, that the increase in fuel prices was a relatively small cost for preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons.
“For you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember you’re doing it so that a very evil country cannot have… a nuclear weapon,” Trump told the crowd.
“So remember that when you have to pay a little bit more, you’re at $4, it’s okay. … I’ll never apologize, I did the right thing.”
Negotiations between the two nations to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz have faltered, with Iran threatening to continue restricting maritime traffic until the United States agrees to its conditions, including ending its naval blockade, withdrawing troops, and lifting sanctions on the regime.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has vowed that Tehran would continue enforcing the blockade on the waterway and warned that it would only be opened under Iran’s command.
“The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech,” Gharibabadi said in a post on X on Aug. 15.
The United States has imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports to pressure Tehran economically.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Aug. 13 that the U.S. military could maintain the naval blockade for as long as needed by rotating ships through the region.
“Iran knows it can’t get in and out on this blockade, and they know that there’s no timeline on it either. We’ll hold it as long as we need to,” Hegseth told reporters in Panama.
The naval blockade has put pressure on Iran’s economy by disrupting the nation’s maritime trade and crude oil exports. Hegseth added that Trump has “all the options at his disposal” to ensure that Iran can no longer develop nuclear weapons.
