Energy secretary: ‘I don’t want to have an opinion’ on rising gas prices

Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday said he did not “want to have an opinion” on the direction of gas prices Americans are paying, which are above $4 per gallon on average at the pump in the U.S.

“You said on this show five months ago that high gas prices had peaked, but between not just the Iran war, but the Russia-Ukraine war and the U.S.’s own dwindling reserves, isn’t it possible gas prices could go up even more?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Wright on “State of the Union.”

“Look, I don’t want to have an opinion on that, but if you look at the futures market right now, what can you buy gasoline for two months in advance from where we are today? It’s down more than 30 cents a gallon from where it is today,” Wright responded.

Bash pressed Wright further on the direction of gas prices, to which he responded that, “if I had to guess, they’re more likely to go down than go up.”

According to AAA , the average cost of a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. was about $4.15 on Sunday morning, up from about $3.20 last year at this time.

The Iran war , which recently hit the six-month mark, has driven up oil and gas prices as the Strait of Hormuz has been closed amid the conflict. The high gas prices have come alongside wider concerns about the American economy, spelling trouble for the president and his party as November’s midterms near.

President Trump has faced pressure over the war, tied to the conflict’s impact on affordability and its reported effects on the U.S. military’s munitions stockpiles.

On Wednesday, the president downplayed the war’s impact on Republican candidates.

“I don’t think it will be very much longer,” Trump said when asked about other Iranian targets the U.S. can hit.

“And I’m not affected by the election. Number one, I’m not running, but my party’s running, and I’m going to help my party. But I think my party respects the fact that we’re not allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”