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The US pump pain worsens as more US-Iran conflict lifts oil prices

After weeks of declines in gasoline prices, U.S. motorists have experienced a new spike after renewed fighting between U.S. and Iran has pushed crudeoilprices up to their highest weekly increase?in eight week. The global refining industry is experiencing disruptions, and the 'U.S. Fuel exports tightened the supply further, and AAA data show that average pump prices increased 6 cents to $3.88 per gallon this week. This was the largest weekly increase since mid May. The renewed fighting between Iran and the U.S. over the Strait of Hormuz has sent energy prices sharply up this week. The U.S. summer driving period is in full swing and the stubbornly high gas prices are a political hot button for President Donald Trump. His Republican Party is running a campaign to win a thin majority in the U.S. Congress during the November midterm elections. Trump has accused oil companies of price gouging.

Alex Hodes is the director of energy market strategy at StoneX. He said that gasoline prices rose along with the huge move up in crude oil following the attacks on several tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Brent, the global oil futures benchmark, was set to gain 5.5% in a week after several tankers were attacked while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. and Iran then exchanged tit-for -tat strikes, and Washington revoked a license allowing the sale of Iranian crude oil. Oil flows in the Strait of Hormuz are still well below their pre-conflict level, which has stoked fears that minor disruptions to oil markets could have global repercussions. Before the beginning of the conflict on February 28, the Strait of Hormuz carried around 20% of global daily oil and gas supplies. Trump has pushed gasoline retailers to reduce prices more aggressively. The administration has asked the U.S. Justice Department investigate possible price gouging of gasoline and introduced a price-cutting program offering discounted gasoline in some locations throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Hodes said that the tightening of fuel supply is only part the story. He cited unplanned refinery shutdowns in Russia and the U.S. as the main cause. The Russian refining industry has been affected by repeated attacks that have reduced fuel production, causing shortages. Moscow has cut diesel exports while increasing gasoline imports. This has tightened global fuel supplies, and raised prices. Tom Kloza is the chief energy advisor at Gulf Oil. He said that Russian production of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel has been decimated, with months?of downtime to come. In the U.S., refinery outages have further strained supplies, including disruptions at Marathon Petroleum's 146,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Detroit, Michigan, and Delta's 190,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania. The Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 1.9 millions barrels to 212.1 million barrels. This is nearly 10 million below the average five-year stockpile.

Denton Cinquegrana is the chief oil analyst for Dow Jones Energy. He said that gasoline stocks in all U.S. areas are below their seasonal norms, but this shortfall was most pronounced along the Gulf Coast.

Last week, inventories in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, which produces a large portion of the nation's refined products, dropped to 76.4 million barrels, well below the average for the past five years of 82.3 millions barrels.

The loss of Middle Eastern barrels and Russian barrels on the global market has also allowed U.S. refiners to enjoy higher margins for their fuel as swing suppliers.

U.S. Petroleum Products Exports Hit a Weekly Record of 8,7 Million bpd In the Week to July 3 EIA?Data showed.

Houston traders are betting on whether the U.S. Gulf of Mexico will see 2-million barrels per day for distillate exports. Kloza wrote this to his clients Thursday. Summer driving in the U.S. from June to early September is a time when gasoline consumption increases. However, production of summer blend fuels, which are more expensive, raises refinery costs and therefore pump prices.

Cinquegrana stated that prices are likely to rise in the near future. (Reporting from Nicole Jao, New York; Additional Reporting by Shariq Khan; Editing Liz Hampton & David Gregorio).

(source: Reuters)