Energy Analysts Dispute Speaker Johnson’s Claims on Gas Price Stability

On Tuesday, Johnson (R-La.) dismissed the national average gas price hike—which hit $3.58 per gallon on Wednesday—as a minor byproduct of achieving military objectives. He insisted that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint, would be resolved within weeks, allowing markets to stabilize. However, analysts from the Center for American Progress, Trevor Higgins and Akshay Thyagarajan, argue that the conflict’s impact on global oil markets already exceeds the fallout from the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The volatility extends beyond the gas pump. Because 43% of U.S. electricity generation relies on liquified natural gas, the current crisis threatens to inflate utility costs already strained by the power demands of artificial intelligence data centers. LNG futures have seen drastic spikes, with prices climbing 77% in European markets and 51% in Asian markets since the commencement of Operation Epic Fury. Clayton Seigle of the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes that Iran’s use of speedboats, mines, and drones provides a low-cost, effective method to deter commercial shipping, leaving regional producers like Qatar and Kuwait with no viable alternative export routes.