US petrol prices dip ahead of midterms as voters eye costs
Petrol prices have dipped amid renewed diplomatic efforts to end the US-Israel war on Iran, but remain high ahead of the United States midterm elections, as the cost of living remains a central issue for voters.
On Monday, the average price for a gallon (3.78 litres) of regular petrol was $4.17, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. That is down 12 cents from this time last week and 23 cents from a month ago.
By comparison, prices were $3.04 this time a year ago and $2.98 on February 28, when the US and Israel first struck Iran.
Diesel fuel prices remain high at $6.29 per gallon, but that is down 6 cents from this time last week. Diesel prices climbed above $6 a gallon for the first time in September before topping out at $6.53.
The average petrol price of President Donald Trump’s second term to date was set to exceed $3.46 a gallon on Monday, surpassing the previous record for a presidential administration set under former President Joe Biden, according to a Financial Times analysis of federal data.
Oil prices are continuing to fall, down 6 percent on Monday as diplomatic efforts to end the US-Israel war on Iran continued following in-person talks in Qatar over the weekend.
“Oil markets down significantly this morning after Trump signalled he favoured negotiations and not new attacks on Iran,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post on X. “Oil down [approximately] 5%, wholesale gasoline and diesel pointing to roughly 16 [cents per gallon] decline. The national average could fall under $4 a gallon in the next week barring a course change.”
Cost-of-living issues remain top of mind for US voters as they head to the polls. An Associated Press-NORC poll last month found that a majority of Americans believe addressing cost-of-living issues should be a priority for Congress, including 78 percent of Republicans and 89 percent of Democrats.
“Once this conflict comes to an end, gas prices will drop drastically, and the Iranian terrorist regime will not have a nuclear weapon,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Al Jazeera. “Protecting America’s national security from threats by a radical terrorist regime that has chanted ‘Death to America’ for 47 years was the right thing to do – and President Trump is the only president who has had the courage to do it.”
Rogers added, “Thanks to the exceptional work of the US military, more oil is now flowing out of the Persian Gulf than before the Iran conflict began.”
On Wall Street, oil and gas giant stocks were trending downward in midday trading. ConocoPhillips was down 3.7 percent, Chevron 2.3 percent and ExxonMobil 3.3 percent.
The major US indices more broadly were in positive territory. The Nasdaq was up 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 0.6 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1 percent.
