Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) on Thursday criticized Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for urging Americans to take road trips as gas prices surged in the U.S.
Americans Paying 50% More For Gas
In a post on X, Newsom’s Press Office quoted a video where Duffy shared his thoughts on the rising cost of gas at the pump, saying that prices would be coming down “immediately.” He also outlined that “energy prices came down below $100 a barrel.”
“We wanna encourage all Americans to take road trips,” Duffy said, adding that it didn’t matter if the road trips were “two hours or two days” long as the country was in a “good place” when it comes to fuel. The Transport Secretary then said that as energy prices go down, it takes some time to “ricochet” to “lower prices at the pump.” He also said that it would take “a week to 10 days” to see prices go down.
“REAL WORLD SEAN THINKS AMERICANS PAYING 50% MORE FOR GAS MEANS PEOPLE ARE IN “A GOOD PLACE,” Newsom’s Press Office handle said in the post.
According to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), gas prices in the U.S. continued to surge as the national average price for a gallon of gas was at $4.583, with California residents paying over $6.165/gallon, followed by $5.763 in Washington State and $5.662 in Hawaii.
Oil prices, too, surged as the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude jumped 1.95% to $96.66/barrel at the time of writing this article. Brent crude also broke the $100 mark, trading at $101.7/barrel at press time, illustrating a 1.68% surge. The United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO), an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) that tracks WTI crude, grew 0.65% to $135.85 during the after-hours trading on Thursday.
Peter Schiff’s Oil Warning, US-Iran Exchange Fire
Investor Peter Schiff earlier issued a warning, sharing that oil prices would not likely come down to pre-Iran war levels as tensions escalate between Iran and the U.S., saying that either Tehran would break the agreement or President Donald Trump would decide that they did.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire near the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump calling the exchange a “love tap.” Following the skirmish, the U.S. Central Command said Iran had deployed missiles, drones and small boats, which were targeting three U.S. Navy destroyers.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
Recent Comments