Trump has no remaining levers to pull as oil hovers near the $100 ‘psychological’ threshold - Yahoo Finance

What the report says

Yahoo Finance, republishing a Fortune report, said oil markets are again nearing the politically and economically sensitive $100-a-barrel level as the second phase of the Iran war strains U.S. options for containing energy prices. The report says fighting has spread to the Red Sea, including attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on two Saudi oil tankers near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, while the Strait of Hormuz remains central to the conflict.

Analysts cited in the article said President Donald Trump has few remaining policy tools after earlier emergency measures. The report notes that emergency oil reserves have been heavily drawn down, U.S. producers and refiners are already operating near high levels, China has cut oil imports, and the administration has waived the Jones Act to ease fuel movement between U.S. coasts. A federal gas tax holiday was described as unlikely because it would need approval from a divided Congress.

Dan Pickering of Pickering Energy Partners told Fortune that if both Hormuz and the Red Sea route are effectively blocked, prices could return in August toward the late-April level of $124 per barrel. The article also cited U.S. gasoline prices above $4.10 per gallon and said the Strategic Petroleum Reserve had fallen to 311 million barrels last week, down from more than 726 million barrels in 2009 and 415 million in late March.

The report frames the issue as a geopolitical and market pressure point ahead of the November midterm elections. Analysts quoted by Fortune said Iran sees leverage in any settlement over Hormuz, leaving Trump with difficult choices between further military escalation and accepting some level of Iranian control over the waterway.