Iran war energy costs hit US consumers at $1mn every 2 minutes: Report

The Iran war has already cost US consumers more than $100 billion in higher gasoline and diesel prices, with the tab continuing to climb by roughly $1 million every two minutes, according to a real-time estimate from Brown University’s Watson School.The cost works out to about $767 per US household since the conflict began on February 28, with gasoline accounting for roughly $55 billion and diesel for another $45.5 billion, according to Brown’s Iran War Energy Cost Tracker.The hit is getting heavier for diesel users as prices have risen about 61% from a year ago, reaching a record $5.90 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA. Diesel is heavily utilised in trucking, freight and travel, meaning higher fuel prices can feed into the price of goods and services across the economy.Texas has taken the biggest hit so far, with consumers paying about $11 billion more for gasoline and diesel since the war began, according to the tracker. California followed with about $8 billion and Florida with roughly $5 billion.Most of the household burden has come from gasoline, which rose from $2.98 a gallon when the war began to about $4.15, a 39% increase. The average household has spent an estimated $420 more on gasoline alone, according to Brown’s calculations.But diesel has become the bigger worry in recent weeks. Its price has climbed from $3.67 a gallon at the start of the war to $5.90, adding roughly $45.5 billion to the amount Americans have spent compared with the tracker’s no-war trajectory.The surge also creates a political problem for US President Donald Trump, who has argued that Americans are willing to bear higher prices to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But inflation remains voters’ top concern, and the president faces weak ratings on the issue.And there is little clarity yet on how much oil is continuing to leave the Middle East, a key factor in determining where fuel prices go from here. The war in Ukraine is adding another layer of pressure, with Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure affecting global markets, particularly diesel.For American consumers, that could mean the $100 billion figure is far from the final bill. With less than two months before the midterm elections, the longer fuel prices remain elevated, the harder it could become for the administration to convince voters that the economic pain is worth the cost.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.