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Bessent: ‘Help is on the way’ on gas prices

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by Tara Suter - 05/04/26 3:02 PM ET

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by Tara Suter - 05/04/26 3:02 PM ET

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that “help is on the way” when it comes to gas prices, with a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. nearing an average of $4.50.

“Help is on the way as of today. The way to think about it is the market, because of the conflict around the strait, is in deficit about 10 million barrels a day, between 8 [million] and 10 million barrels a day right now,” Bessent said on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.”

“So, every crew carrier that goes through has about 2 million barrels, so four or five crew carriers a day coming through, of the pent-up demand, we think they’re more than 150, 200 crew carriers that can come out. So, I think the market’s going to be very well supplied,” he added.

The Iranian military has throttled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict, resulting in higher oil and gas prices in the U.S. and around the world. The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. on Monday was about $4.46, according to AAA, up from about $3.17 at this time last year.

President Trump said Sunday the U.S. would help in freeing ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Trump said later in the day on Truth Social.

U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said Monday that Iran had fired on U.S. warships and that six Iranian small boats were destroyed in retaliation.

The U.S. military also said Monday that two cargo ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Centcom confirmed the transit of the vessels, also claiming that Navy guided-missile destroyers were protecting vessels in the Persian Gulf after going through the strait.

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