'Absolutely Massive' Price Shocks Coming as Trump's Iran War Drives Up Gas, Diesel Prices

President Donald Trump's unprovoked attack on Iran has sent oil prices surging, and it's already hurting Americans at the gas pump.

Petroleum industry analyst Patrick De Haan reported on Wednesday that the average US price for diesel has hit $4 per gallon, the highest it's been since April 2024.

De Haan also projected that the price of diesel would keep rising in the coming days before eventually reaching a price in the range of $4.25 to $4.45 per gallon.

The average price of gasoline is now approaching $3.20 per gallon, De Haan reported, and is projected to rise to at least $3.30 per gallon in the coming days. According to data from the US Energy Information Administration, average US gas prices haven't been that high since September 2024.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on Wednesday flagged data showing that the price of Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (RBOB) gasoline futures contracts has been going through the roof since the start of the Iran war.

"What should really terrify Republicans is RBOB—the futures price on wholesale gasoline," Krugman commented. "This is up 75 cents a gallon since its low earlier this year."

According to a Wednesday report at Market Watch, researchers at the investment bank Goldman Sachs this week raised their price forecast for Brent crude oil for the second quarter of 2026 to $76 per barrel, an increase of $10.

What's more, Market Watch noted, Goldman is projecting that the price of Brent crude could hit $100 per barrel if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for the next five weeks due to the war.

Goldman isn't the only investment bank projecting sky-high oil prices if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed for a prolonged period, as JPMorgan Chase earlier this week projected that the price of Brent crude could top $120 if the Iran conflict drags on, according to a Monday report from Market Watch.

Robert Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development program, said in an interview with Seeking Alpha that global investors at the moment seem to be underestimating the economic risks of a prolonged conflict with Iran, citing "a weird tendency in markets to downplay unexpected shocks when they happen.”

However, Brooks told Seeking Alpha that what's happening with the global oil market right now "is absolutely massive" and should not be ignored.

Trump so far has not outlined any end game for the war he started, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday boasted that the Trump administration was "playing for keeps" by delivering "death and destruction from the sky all day" on Iran.