Car gas prices aren't steadying

Alternet -   Gas prices have skyrocketed since President Donald Trump launched his war against Iran, increasing by roughly a dollar per gallon to reach a national average of just under $4 per gallon so far. Today, oil prices soared to above $116 a barrel following Trump’s assertion that he wanted to “take the oil in Iran” and invade the Iranian oil center at Kharg Island, and according to CNN senior business reporter David Goldman, that’s bad news for both individual consumers and the U.S. economy as a whole.

As Goldman explained, roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil is transported through the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz, which has been almost entirely closed for weeks now.

“If that oil doesn't come through,” said Goldman, “oil will continue to go higher and higher and higher, and that can become a real problem not only for consumers — and certainly it is very painful to fill up at the pump — but also for the broader economy.”

According to analysts, if the war goes on until June, it could push the price of a barrel of oil to over $200, which would result in gas prices of approximately $7 per gallon. That doesn’t just mean a hit to American wallets, but could drag the whole economy into recession.