Price At The Pump: Volatility Remains As U.S. & Iran Negotiate

For the duration of the U.S./Israel war with Iran, oil prices have been on a rollercoaster ride. And that volatility continues as negotiations are scheduled to resume in Pakistan.

Patrick DeHaan with Gasbuddy.com says oil prices decreased last week, following news of the ceasefire, however prices turned higher over the weekend as that ceasefire appeared to be failing. While prices moved higher to start the week, DeHaan noted the volatility maybe dying down.

“Oil prices only up 6% [Monday] instead of reacting in a more significant way," DeHaan said. "And that may be good news for motorists that are kind of sick of the roller coaster ride of fluctuating oil prices.”

In early Tuesday trade, West Texas and Brent Crude were both trading slightly lower at $87 and $95 per barrel respectively.

Photo: Glenn Vaagen

Where Are Prices Going? When Will Things Return To "Normal"?

When it comes to the future of oil prices and fuel prices, DeHaan noted it’s really difficult to make predictions with any kind of certainty. But, he noted, even if an agreement between the U.S. and Iran is reached by the end of April, it would take a substantial amount of time to see improvements in fuel and oil prices.

“It would likely take several months of full normalization to really start to see improvement," DeHaan pointed out. "So, quite a bit of time. I would estimate that for every day we continue to see the situation take hold, that it could be a week to fully recover. And so at this point, 50 days into this situation, we may be at a point where it may take some 50 weeks to fully recover after the Strait [of Hormuz] has been reopened.”