Price at the Pump: Israel/Iran Push Oil Prices Higher

After staying in the low- to mid-$60 per barrel range for the past several weeks, oil prices jumped up north of $70, thanks to the back-and-forth airstrikes between Israel and Iran. Patrick DeHaan with Gasbuddy.com said this is the latest in a long list of issues that investors have had to digest this year, including tariffs, trade wars, and Russia/Ukraine.

“There's been headlines in the Middle East, really for the last couple of years as well. In addition, OPEC increase in oil production just a lot of different factors that could weigh and offset oil markets globally. So, there really has been a quite a busy time for oil and energy markets to digest all of the various news that's emerging.”

DeHaan pointed out that oil prices dipped about 5% after Monday’s initial price jump.

Where Are Fuel Prices Going?

Will consumers see elevated prices at their local station?

“Gasoline, diesel prices remaining at some of the lowest levels for this time of year in several years, but there likely will be some impacts to gas prices and diesel in the week ahead," DeHaan said. "As the jump in oil from last week is started to be pushed down to the retail level. But those increases likely will be limited with oil prices now showing a big decline [Monday] of nearly 4%. So, any increases that motorists and consumers of diesel will see here in the next few days will likely unwind as we get closer again to July 4th.”

DeHaan added once while a host of variables remain, he expects oil prices to return to their mid-$60 per barrel range. As of Tuesday morning, West Texas Crude was trading around $73 per barrel while Brent Crude was trading above $74 per barrel.