PLATTEVILLE — Energy Secretary Chris Wright indicated Monday in Colorado that a sharp increase in gasoline and diesel prices could last weeks even as the Trump administration is doing “everything we can” to alleviate the hikes caused by the war in Iran.
“The single biggest thing we can do is completely dismantle Iran’s ability to project hostile force against its neighbors in the Middle Eastern energy system,” Wright said during a visit to a power plant in Weld County. “We are getting there. But in these intervening weeks, we will do everything we can … to mitigate this price crunch.”
Wright said the U.S. will insure oil tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz and will even use the military to escort ships. He said the Trump administration is also considering releases from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve to limit price hikes.
The secretary said there isn’t talk, however, of limiting U.S. oil exports or rolling back sanctions on Russian oil.
The average price of regular gasoline in Colorado jumped to $3.41 on Monday, up from $2.89 a week ago, according to AAA. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, briefly surged to $119.50 per barrel Monday — its highest level since the summer after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The price dropped later in the day, but was still much higher than the roughly $70 a barrel oil was trading at before the war began Feb. 28.
Wright, who was working as CEO of a Denver-based oil and gas company when he was tapped to become energy secretary, defended President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran alongside Israel.
“The president decided we cannot have an increasingly powerful Iran,” the secretary said. “It’s time to bring that to an end. There is a disruptive period as we’re bringing that to an end.”
Wright didn’t provide a timeline for the disruptive period.
“We don’t know the future,” he said, “but I believe it will be measured in weeks, not months.”
Wright was joined during his visit to the Fort St. Vrain Generating Station, an Xcel Energy facility powered by natural gas, by Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton.
Evans ran on lowering consumer costs. When asked by a reporter about the high gas prices and what he could do about them, he responded by criticizing Democratic policies on the state level.
In a written statement after the U.S. attacked Iran, he called it “a necessary step.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.