Analysts: Expect 'Staggering' Spike at Pumps From Iran War

Drivers are about to get hit with something both familiar and unwelcome: sharply higher fuel prices. Analysts say gas and diesel costs are poised to surge in the coming days, with some warning of "staggering" jumps at the pump, especially across the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Rocky Mountain states, reports the Washington Post. Diesel, already averaging $6.40 a gallon nationwide and $8.35 in California, is setting records and pushing up shipping and retail costs. The spike is being tied to the US-led war on Iran and a string of attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, including serious damage to the kingdom's key East-West Pipeline. Despite assurances from US officials, experts reviewing satellite imagery expect repairs to take one to two months, and forecasts suggest elevated prices could persist past the midterms. More:

• How it affects you: The average price of a gallon of gas in the US hovered around $4.44 on Thursday morning, per AAA. Newsweek has a map that shows the average price, state by state.
• Comparison: Citing data from the Energy Information Administration, Yahoo Finance notes that gas prices are the highest they've ever been at this point in time during an election cycle.

• Trump's take: No biggie, all things considered, the president said on Wednesday, per NJ.com. While conceding that gas prices are a "little higher," Trump said that "it's a very inexpensive price to pay" in order to continue the war in Iran. He also claimed, without explaining exactly how, that prices are "going to come tumbling down," adding that it will "be like a rocket ship in reverse."
• Pushback: It's no surprise that Democrats are highlighting these struggles under the Trump administration, but one of the president's ex-allies is also speaking out. "RIDICULOUS!!!" former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene noted on Instagram, showing herself in front of a California pump listing diesel as going for $8.49 a gallon (she says back home in Georgia, it's about $6.59), per the Hill. "The fuel crisis is only just beginning."
• US angst: "How are we gonna get through this?" is the question on some Americans' minds, per ABC News, which interviews concerned citizens over how they're handling these expenses, and the tough choices they've had to make.
• Global angst: Americans aren't the only ones feeling that pain. The New York Times notes that people in countries around the world are angry about the price spikes, with protests erupting everywhere from Guatemala to Indonesia and Syria.
• Gas station experiment: Amid customer suspicions, North Carolina's WCNC decided to tested whether the amount of gas pumped out at the gas station matched what was displayed on the pump's display. Find out why this kind of test isn't that simple.
• Elections: The Atlantic posits that the pain at the pump could cost the GOP the midterms.