Former White House adviser on price of gas and oil and the ongoing war with Iran
WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA) - Amos Hochstein, former White House Adviser on Global Infrastructure and Energy Security, spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the price of gas and oil.
President Donald Trump said current gas prices are not very high, but according to Brennan, regular gas costs are averaged around $4.05 a gallon, and the last time the U.S. saw that was when Russia invaded Ukraine during the Biden Administration.
This prompted Brennan to ask Hochstein, who served under the Biden Administration, how will he make sure the spike isn't long lasting if he was advising President Trump now, to which Hochstein said:
"We're over $4 now, because we have a real disruption. In the Russia invasion of Ukraine, we had a concern of a disruption that never actually happened, and it went all the way up to $5. For the president right now, any continued duration of closure of the Straits of Hormuz will have to have a spike in prices. We're at a...when you have an energy crisis like the Strait of Hormuz, it's very slow moving, and then, it's like falling off a cliff, because when you close a strait, the world still has all the tankers that were on the water before, and that take...could take 25,30 days to get to their destination. But right now, there are no tankers on the road, on the seas to Asia and to Europe. So we're getting to the point now where certain countries no longer have any fuel, no longer have jet fuel. Now those are poor countries, and now middle income countries, but that eventually comes to the U.S. So he's got a couple of weeks before this can go much higher."
Brennan brought up Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying he expects a price drop sometime between June and September, leading her to ask Hochstein if that's realistic, and he said:
"I think what...right now, what they're doing in the administration is saying things further out to say, Okay, we'll deal with that in June. If we get to June, prices are high, we'll say it's August to November...They're talking the markets down as if the straits are closed...[Europe is saying there's only six weeks left or so of jet fuel]. Certain Asian countries are already canceling flights. They don't have any jet fuel. They're running out and probably two to three weeks at most, before large parts of Asia. But remember...when a plane leaves the United States, they can't take jet fuel with them. The administration has been saying, we have plenty in the U.S., great. But if you leave the U.S. and there is no jet fuel on the other side. So what happens is the fuel surcharges that Americans are going to see, that are already starting to see, and ahead of Memorial Day in the summer, tickets are going to be very expensive. When jet fuel is expensive in the rest of the world, it is also expensive here."
During the interview, Brennan and Hochstein talked about negotiations with Iran, with Brennan asking why Secretary of State Marco Rubio is not leading the negotiations, and Hochstein said:
"That's a mystery that I think many in the region and around the United States are asking, why is this not being run by the Secretary of State who's also his national security advisor. Maybe the Secretary of State doesn't believe that this is the right approach...But that's a real mystery."
Later in the interview, Brennan and Hochstein talked about the president announcing a 10-day pause to halt fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
When asked what he makes of this truce, Hochstein said:
"So a few things. One, I'm glad to see that the fire is halted, even if it's a pause. The worrisome part is that it was seen as a ceasefire that was brokered by Iran by insisting on a Lebanese ceasefire before they would show up to talks in Pakistan. That's a disaster, because the one thing we have always been emphasizing, Iran does not control Lebanon. It is none of their business what happens in Lebanon. Hezbollah has been unmasked in this conflict over the last couple of years as not really a Lebanese fighting organization, or terrorist organization, as they claim. But rather they said, we are doing this at the behest of the Iranians. And so allowing the Iranians to dictate terms is not a good thing. However, direct talks between Israel, even at the lower level, at the ambassador level, is a good development. Most of the Lebanese people want to see a lasting ceasefire, even if they don't want to see a peace agreement. They want to see agreement, they want to see end of conflict, but we have to have a serious effort here. There's such a great moment of opportunity. It will not be a moment of opportunity if Israel is occupying a significant part of Lebanon to re-establish a buffer zone. That won't work, because ultimately that will help Hezbollah reestablish its political footing and their narrative. So we have to get to the table, make sure Israel withdraws from Lebanon, stop the fighting and give the actual help to Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah. They cannot do it on their own."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Hochstein, click here.
