White House looks for ways to soothe American jitters over surging prices
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Oil prices have been surging since the start of the conflict on Feb 28.
PHOTO: EPA
By Tony Romm, David E. Sanger and Michael Levenson
WASHINGTON - The White House raced to find ways to reassure Americans as oil prices see-sawed again on March 19, after a series of Iranian strikes on oil and gas facilities deepened a global energy crisis nearly three weeks into the US-Israeli war with Iran.
US President Donald Trump, speaking during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, said that he would do whatever was necessary to ease the crisis, but that it was temporary.
“I thought there was a chance it could be much worse. It’s not bad. And it’s going to be over with pretty soon,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said at a news conference on March 19 that the war could end “a lot faster than people think”, though he did not offer a concrete timeline.
He said that Iran no longer has the ability to enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles, but “there’s still more work to do, and we’re going to do it”.
He spoke after Iran hit oil and gas facilities in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates on March 18 and 19, in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the South Pars natural gas field, a vast gas reservoir in the Persian Gulf that supplies Iran with much of the energy for its businesses and homes.
The strikes further rattled global energy markets, which have already been shaken by Iran’s effective blockade of most Western oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for about one-fifth of the world’s oil.
Oil prices have been surging since the start of the conflict on Feb 28, with international crude futures up close to 50 per cent in less than three weeks. As crude rises, so do gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, driving up the prices of everyday goods.
On March 19, the average price of a gallon of petrol in the US hit US$3.88 (S$4.95), up from US$2.93 a month ago. Mortgage rates also jumped this week, the third increase in a row, as high oil and gas prices weighed on housing costs for Americans.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business that the Trump administration, in an effort to lower prices, may remove sanctions on Iranian oil that was already being shipped, about 140 million barrels. NYTIMES
