Bessent reassures Americans 'help is on the way' amid surging gas prices

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reassured American consumers Monday that "help is on the way" as the Iran conflict causes gas prices to climb to a national average of $4.50 per gallon.

Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz has impacted shipping through the Persian Gulf, resulting in higher oil and gas prices in the United States. The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. on Monday was approximately $4.46, according to AAA.

“Help is on the way as of today," Bessent said on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom” program. "The way to think about it is the market, because of the conflict around the strait, is in deficit about 10 million barrels a day, between 8 [million] and 10 million barrels a day right now.

“So, every crew carrier that goes through has about 2 million barrels, so four or five crew carriers a day coming through, of the pent-up demand," he continued. "We think there are more than 150, 200 crew carriers that can come out. So, I think the market’s going to be very well supplied."

The news comes the same day U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said Iran had fired on U.S. warships and that six Iranian small boats were destroyed in retaliation. Two American cargo ships also passed through the Strait on Monday, according to The Hill.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.