Trump Says Justice Department Looking Into Gasoline Prices

s[ji5ktyqn7m9{wuvxazylh7_media_dl_1.png AAA, Nymex, Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — US President Donald Trump said he has ordered the Department of Justice to look into gasoline prices, complaining that they aren’t falling fast enough.

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“The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil,” he said in a post on Truth Social. “Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”

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Trump did not elaborate on the instructions given to the DOJ.

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Average nationwide gasoline prices surged to the highest level since 2022 following strikes by the US and Israel on Iran, which resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a key waterway for about a fifth of seaborne crude. They have declined less quickly than crude oil — which accounts for half the price of gasoline — after Washington and Tehran signed an interim peace deal that saw traffic through the waterway pick up.

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Average retail prices slipped back below $4 a gallon for unleaded gasoline earlier in June, standing at $3.93 on Wednesday, according to data from the American Automobile Association. They remain above the five-year seasonal average.

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The dynamic now, even as the oil traffic through the strait increases, is further complicated by summertime demand and fuel requirements.

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“It has to do with the seasonality of gasoline prices which tend to be higher in the summer, and in general, there tends to be a lag of about 10 days or so between wholesale prices on Wall Street and retail prices at the pump,” Daan Struyven, co-head of global commodities research and head of oil research at Goldman Sachs, said Wednesday on Bloomberg Television. “Structurally, we think refined product markets are tighter than crude markets.”

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High gasoline prices have become a political vulnerability for the Republican Party ahead of US midterm elections in November. Democrats eager to highlight cost-of-living issues have been making pump prices a key point of attack.

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The supply situation for both crude and gasoline has improved, but stockpiles remain depleted. US commercial inventories of gasoline held by oil refiners, trading firms and wholesalers which supply filling stations are currently around the lowest levels for the time of year since 2014, according to US government data. 

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Historically, economists and energy experts say, it’s often taken longer for oil and gasoline prices to fall after a runup in costs, especially when provoked by a physical disruption — even as those constraints abate. 

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“Our industry shares the goal of delivering relief at the pump and restoring stability to global energy markets,” Bethany Williams, a spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, said by email. “Gasoline prices don’t move in lockstep with crude oil, especially during a major global disruption that is still affecting supply, refining and inventories. Our focus remains on supporting market stability and delivering the energy consumers need.”