US official says gas prices have peaked despite Iran war

WASHINGTON: US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday gasoline prices appeared to have peaked after a surge linked to the Iran war – a marked shift in tone a day after President Donald Trump publicly rebuked his earlier, more cautious outlook.

“I don’t know the future of energy prices – often I will speculate or look at those things. I would say, gasoline prices, it looks like they peaked about a week or so ago,” Wright told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

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He said the high point was $1 a gallon cheaper than the peak during the administration of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, adding: “Yet we’re in the midst of ending a 47-year conflict in the Middle East, a major energy producing region.”