$5.99 in Los Angeles

The average US gas price hit $4 per gallon, the highest since 2022. In Los Angeles County, regular climbed to $5.99, up from $4.69 a month ago. Since the start of the war, Brent has risen over 50%. Crude hovers around $110 per barrel and the IEA calls it "the biggest supply shock since the 1970s energy crisis."

Australia announced free public transport in Victoria and Tasmania during April to ease fuel costs. Georgia suspended fuel taxes for 60 days. Florida refused to do the same. The war is generating a domestic fuel politics in every country it touches.

Trump said he wants to "take the oil in Iran." He also told allies they should go to Hormuz and "just TAKE IT." The White House acknowledges it cannot promise the reopening of Hormuz as a prerequisite for declaring "mission accomplished". It is a significant admission: the military objective may have been met, but the economic objective that matters most to voters, the price of petrol, depends on an Iranian decision Washington does not control.