Oil and gas executives have warned the Trump administration that gasoline prices at the pump could surge in the coming months as fuel inventories fall to critical lows, complicating efforts to contain inflation, The Washington Post reported earlier this week.
Some commercial and government inventories that have mitigated price rises so far are rapidly depleting and could be wiped out within weeks, the executives have warned, coinciding with the peak summer travel season.
"I have absolutely no doubt the White House from the president on down is fully aware of the nearly universal alarm among oil companies and analysts about the direction of travel for oil prices this summer," Rapidan Energy founder Bob McNally told the Post.
The Trump administration is confronting the highest rate of inflation in three years, as the U.S. consumer price index rose at a 4.2% annual pace in the year ending in May, driven by surging gas prices.
Regular gasoline averaged $4.11/gal on Friday, according to AAA, below its May average of $4.49/gal but still significantly higher than its year-earlier average of $3.12.
Industry officials said the White House's reception to their concerns has been mixed, according to the report, with some seeing the warnings as hollow since crude oil prices have not spiked into the triple digits.
Analysts and industry executives warn the critical date that reserves start to run dry could come anywhere from the end of this month to closer to the end of summer. "but they are universally anxious about how quickly the supply is declining," the report said.
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