The US president has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russia, released 40% of America’s oil reserves, and changed maritime lawsTrump’s desperate attempts to curb soaring oil prices The US president has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russia, released 40% of America’s oil reserves, and changed maritime laws The United States is experiencing its biggest fuel price hike in decades. The world’s largest crude oil exporter is unable to contain the spiraling oil prices triggered by the Iran war. The Trump administration is desperate to stem this escalation, which is beginning to hit Americans’ wallets with a little more than six months to go before the midterms, where the remainder of Trump’s term hangs on the line. For now, the White House has failed to contain the burgeoning energy crisis despite launching several initiatives to try to cool prices. The Iranian military’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran has sent energy markets into turmoil. A quarter of the world’s natural gas, a fifth of its crude oil, and tons of critical materials for fertilizers and other petroleum products pass through this strategic Persian Gulf waterway. Energy markets were abuzz on Wednesday following the attacks on the world’s largest natural gas field. The bombing of the South Pars gas field and other facilities in Asaluyeh, along with the Iranian response against a gas plant in Ras Laffan, Qatar, has driven the price of Brent crude, the European benchmark, to $111 a barrel. In the United States, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is nearing $100, a 50% increase from the days before the strikes on Iran began. The U.S. president is sending a contradictory message. On the one hand, he insists he is not worried about rising oil or fuel prices. “Well, I think your gas prices, as soon as that’s over, are going to come tumbling down along with everything else,” he has said recently. Waiver of the Jones Act On the other hand, the president has approved half a dozen measures to contain prices. Just yesterday, the government approved a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act, which prohibits foreign vessels from transporting oil and gas between U.S. ports. With this decision, it aims to increase the number of oil and gas tankers calling at U.S. ports. Analysts consider this a symbolic measure that, at most, will only alleviate gasoline prices by a few cents, according to Bloomberg. The move “is just another step to mitigate the short-term disruptions to the oil market as the U.S. military continues meeting the objectives of Operation Epic Fury,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on social media. The Jones Act was enacted in 1920 by then-President Woodrow Wilson. It mandated that all goods transported between U.S. ports be shipped on American-made and American-crewed ships. The law, criticized as a form of protectionism, was conceived as an effort to boost the domestic shipping industry after World War I. Gasoline prices rise by more than 30% Meanwhile, American families are beginning to feel the pinch. Gasoline prices climbed again on Wednesday to $3.842 a gallon, a 31% increase from a month ago, reaching their highest level since September 2023, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). This is the largest monthly increase in 30 years. The price of diesel, used by farm machinery and many other vehicles, has risen even further. It has surpassed $5 a gallon for the first time since the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to GasBuddy. “Consumers continue to feel the sting of rising oil, gasoline, and diesel costs as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East remain elevated, pushing gasoline prices to their highest levels in years while diesel could soon approach the $5-per-gallon mark nationally,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, in a blog post. “Until we see a meaningful resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, upward pressure on fuel prices is likely to persist.” Following Wednesday’s bombing of one of the world’s largest gas fields, which sent shockwaves through the energy industry, Trump wants no more attacks on Iranian energy facilities, according to The Wall Street Journal. 40% of crude oil reserves Trump has also tried bringing down prices by releasing 40% of the United States’ crude oil reserves. A week ago, the president announced that he would release 172 million barrels of crude oil to comply with the agreement reached with some 30 member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which agreed to release 400 million barrels of crude oil—the largest intervention in the market in history. Furthermore, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has intensified meetings with executives from the country’s major oil companies to try to contain prices. After all, the United States is the world’s largest exporter thanks to the fracking industry, the technology that allows it to extract shale oil from the subsoil. “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump wrote a week ago. Small consolation for Americans struggling to fill their gas tanks. The Trump administration has also expedited licensing for oil companies to accelerate the rebuilding of Venezuela’s oil industry and increase oil production. At the same time, it has authorized Venezuela to sell fertilizers amid shortages caused by the Iran war. Many of these fertilizers originate from Gulf countries and are currently stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. Furthermore, on Wednesday, the administration authorized a waiver allowing U.S. companies to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, lifting sanctions that had hampered the country’s crude oil exports, according to The Washington Post. Waiving sanctions on Russia Trump also announced that he would lift some sanctions, without specifying which ones. “We’re waiving certain oil-related sanctions to reduce prices,” he said during an event in Doral, Florida, last week. A few days earlier, he had granted India a 30-day moratorium on buying Russian oil stranded at sea. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the measure was intended to “increase the global reach of existing supply.” Hours later, Trump announced that the United States would have its first new oil refinery in 50 years thanks to an investment by the Indian company Reliance Industries. A week later, and despite the sanctions and embargoes imposed by the United States on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, Trump temporarily lifted the sanctions on the sale of Russian crude oil that was already loaded onto ships before March 12. The concession will last a month and a half and will allow the purchase of Russian oil and other refined products in transit. “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” Bessent wrote on X. The measure caused an uproar because it allows Russia to be financed despite the sanctions imposed for the war in Ukraine. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition Tu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo ¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción? Si continúas leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podrá leer en el otro. FlechaTu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PAÍS desde un dispositivo a la vez. Si quieres compartir tu cuenta, cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium, así podrás añadir otro usuario. Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email, lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS. ¿Tienes una suscripción de empresa? Accede aquí para contratar más cuentas. En el caso de no saber quién está usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contraseña aquí. Si decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrará en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que está usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aquí los términos y condiciones de la suscripción digital. --- Original source: https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-03-19/trumps-desperate-attempts-to-curb-soaring-oil-prices.html
Trending