Trump blames Democrats and Ukraine for soaring US fuel prices, not Iran war

Trump shifts blame for fuel price hikes to Democratic-led states such as California and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.

US petrol prices remain higher than a month ago as the midterm elections approach [File: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP]

With the United States midterm elections approaching, President Donald Trump has attempted to shift blame for high fuel prices from the US-Israel war on Iran to Democrats and Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries.

“What’s driving up Gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because Record Numbers of Barrels are coming out now on an almost daily basis, but the word, ‘Refineries,’ where Russia’s are being blown up by Ukraine, and where ours are being closed up, in Blue States, like California, by the Dumocrats,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday.

list 1 of 4 G7 nations to release oil and diesel stocks, will it bring down the prices?

list 2 of 4 Iran says Hormuz to remain closed until US meets conditions

list 3 of 4 Middle East oil exports surpass pre-war levels despite tensions, data shows

list 4 of 4 Is Iran charging a toll to allow oil traffic through Hormuz?

While Trump claims domestic refinery closures are driving the spike, daily exports through the Strait of Hormuz have actually plunged 97 percent since the war began , choking global supplies.

Petrol prices are continuing to climb for consumers. The average price for a gallon (3.79 litres) is $4.36, up from $4.14 a month ago and up from $2.98 on February 28, when the US and Israel first struck Iran, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices.

“The ongoing conflicts with Iran and Russia’s war with Ukraine are reinforcing each other, impairing oil product markets, but Middle Eastern flows are far from normal,” Rachel Ziemba, senior adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Al Jazeera.

On Friday, G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency reserves amid pressure from the White House. Meanwhile, the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve hits its lowest level since 1982.

“US tells some [European Union] members to release ‘strategic reserves’ or face a potential US diesel export ban, pushing France and Germany to do so, oil prices, along with gasoline and diesel futures strongly lower as a result,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post on X.

Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure have also driven up prices, particularly diesel fuel. On Sunday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence claimed that it has disabled more than half of Russia’s oil refining capacity.

“The damage to Russia’s refineries – and risk of more US sanctions on those who process Russian oil – are exacerbating the situation, but the underlying issue is still the volatile flows from the Middle East, the greater difficulty getting oil products out and the lower buffers in place,” Ziemba added.

The latest strikes come amid ongoing attacks since the war between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022. In June, Russian refinery throughput hit its lowest level in two decades, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The analysis also found that diesel production has fallen 30 percent over the past 18 months.

Trump has also blamed price increases on refining cuts in Democratic-led states such as California, where two refineries have shut down over the past year. The closures reduced the state’s refining capacity by 17 percent , creating some supply gaps, according to an analysis by S&P Global .

However, Trump’s effort to shift blame to Democrats comes ahead of consequential midterm elections that could shape the balance of power in Washington. At the same time, most Americans appear to blame Trump for rising prices. A recent AP-NORC poll found that 65 percent of Americans blamed Trump’s policies for higher prices, while 61 percent said the US economy is worse off than when Trump returned to office.

特朗普将燃油价格上涨的责任推卸给加利福尼亚州等民主党执政的州以及乌克兰对俄罗斯炼油厂的袭击。

随着中期选举临近，美国汽油价格仍高于一个月前的价格。[图片：Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP]

随着美国中期选举临近，唐纳德·特朗普总统试图将高油价的责任从美以对伊朗的战争转移到民主党人和乌克兰对俄罗斯炼油厂的袭击上。

特朗普周一在 Truth Social 上发帖称：“推高汽油价格的不再是霍尔木兹海峡，因为现在几乎每天都有创纪录的桶装汽油出口，而是‘炼油厂’这个词，俄罗斯的炼油厂正在被乌克兰炸毁，而我们的炼油厂正在像加利福尼亚这样的蓝州被民主党人关闭。”

7国集团中四个国家之一将释放石油和柴油库存，这会降低油价吗？

伊朗表示，在美方满足条件之前，霍尔木兹海峡将继续关闭。（共4条，此为第2条）

数据显示，尽管局势紧张，但中东石油出口量（排名前四）中的第三个国家已超过战前水平。

问题 4（共 4 个）：伊朗是否对通过霍尔木兹海峡的石油运输收取通行费？

尽管特朗普声称国内炼油厂关闭是造成石油出口激增的原因，但自战争开始以来，经霍尔木兹海峡的石油日出口量实际上已经下降了 97%，导致全球石油供应中断。

汽油价格持续上涨。据追踪每日汽油价格的美国汽车协会（AAA）数据显示，目前每加仑（3.79升）汽油的平均价格为4.36美元，高于一个月前的4.14美元，也高于2月28日美国和以色列首次袭击伊朗时的2.98美元。

“伊朗持续不断的冲突和俄罗斯与乌克兰的战争相互加剧，损害了石油产品市场，但中东的石油流动远未恢复正常，”新美国安全中心高级兼职研究员雷切尔·齐姆巴告诉半岛电视台。

周五，在白宫的压力下，七国集团同意从紧急储备中释放1亿桶柴油和原油。与此同时，美国战略石油储备降至1982年以来的最低水平。

GasBuddy 石油分析主管 Patrick DeHaan 在 X 的一篇帖子中表示：“美国要求一些欧盟成员国释放‘战略储备’，否则将面临美国柴油出口禁令，这迫使法国和德国这样做，导致油价以及汽油和柴油期货价格大幅下跌。”

乌克兰对俄罗斯能源基础设施的袭击也推高了物价，尤其是柴油价格。周日，乌克兰国防部声称已瘫痪了俄罗斯一半以上的炼油产能。

Ziemba补充道：“俄罗斯炼油厂遭受的破坏，以及美国可能对俄罗斯石油加工商实施更多制裁的风险，正在加剧局势，但根本问题仍然是来自中东的不稳定石油流动、石油产品出口的更大困难以及较低的缓冲能力。”

自2022年俄乌战争爆发以来，袭击事件持续不断，而此次袭击事件正是其中之一。国际能源署（IEA）的一项分析显示，今年6月，俄罗斯炼油厂的加工量降至20年来的最低水平。该分析还发现，过去18个月里，柴油产量下降了30%。

特朗普还将油价上涨归咎于加州等民主党执政州的炼油产能削减。过去一年，加州已有两家炼油厂关闭。标普全球的一项分析显示，这些炼油厂的关闭使加州的炼油产能减少了17%，造成了一定的供应缺口。

然而，特朗普试图将责任推卸给民主党，正值可能影响华盛顿权力平衡的关键性中期选举前夕。与此同时，大多数美国人似乎将物价上涨归咎于特朗普。美联社-NORC公共事务研究中心最近的一项民调显示，65%的美国人认为特朗普的政策导致了物价上涨，而61%的人表示，美国经济状况比特朗普重返总统职位时更糟。