With fewer than two weeks until the midterms, US voters are unlikely to see relief on one of this election cycle’s main issues: gas prices.
asserted
voters → see → issues
Airing up her car’s tires at a Speedway in Perrysburg, Ohio, Toledo resident Sharie Smith, 41, says soaring costs are having a direct impact on her life.
asserted
costs → air → life
“It’s affecting my budget,” she says.
asserted
she → affect → budget
“You got to take away certain things, you got to take away from your kids, like extracurricular activities.”
asserted
you → got → activities
She says high gas prices are making it harder to pay for the fees for her children’s football games.
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it → say → games
Every 10 days, she used to fill up her gray Chevy Malibu for $30 to $40, but now it costs $50 to $60.
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it → use → 60
It stings, she says.
asserted
she → sting → ?
“Especially that with the price of groceries,” she adds.
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she → add → groceries
“And I don’t even have a big car.
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I → have → car
I feel bad for those people with big cars, like trucks.”
Donald Trump has made many promises about bringing down gas prices and specifically touted several diesel cost-savings deals this month, but voters won’t see lower costs by 3 November, say energy analysts.
asserted
analysts → feel → November
National average prices for gasoline and diesel are down marginally from a month ago, according to AAA, but remain substantially higher than last year.
uncertain
prices → accord → year
Compared with 2025, gasoline costs are up more than $1.25 a gallon, at $4.29, while diesel prices are up nearly 75%, to $6.30 a gallon.
asserted
prices → compare → 6.30
Polls show that US voters are deeply upset by high gas prices and are likely to punish Republicans as a result.
asserted
voters → show → result
A 10 October poll by Politico showed that even if Trump were to bring the price of gasoline down by $1 a gallon, most voters polled would not likely be swayed to vote Republican.
asserted
voters → show → 1
Earlier this month, Trump announced several deals attempting to lower diesel prices, including promoting greater use of “red dye” diesel fuel normally reserved for off-highway use, temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian diesel imports, and now a one-time, $8bn diesel-fuel subsidy for farmers to help with harvest.
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farmers → announce → harvest
“Diesel prices for Americans and, indeed, the world, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!
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prices → come → NUMBERS
Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my greatest priority,” Trump posted on his social media site.
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Trump → post → site
Ed Hirs, energy fellow at the University of Houston, says these moves will have no impact.
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moves → say → impact
No elaboration needed,” he says.
asserted
he → need → ?
Under the Russia deal, the US can import 2.24m barrels of Russian diesel, with more to follow.
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US → import → more
That initial figure amounts to just 14 hours of US diesel demand, says Andrew Critchlow, head of energy news for Dow Jones Energy.
asserted
Critchlow → amount → Energy
For context, the global diesel market uses nearly 30m barrels a day.
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market → use → barrels
Hirs adds that the deal with Putin is not for new supply.
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deal → add → supply
“It was going someplace.
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It → go → ?
It was going someplace at a discount.
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It → go → discount
And now what Trump has done is, rather than have Russia sell it at a discount, they’re selling it for full value.
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they → do → value
He’s given them a huge windfall,” Hirs says.
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Hirs → give → windfall
Diesel fuel is an important transportation fuel globally, critical in the last-mile delivery of most consumer goods, so everyone feels the pinch, says Rob Thummel, senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital.
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Thummel → feel → Capital
Energy prices across the board are higher because of the US war on Iran, which closed the strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s crude oil flows.
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much → close → oil
Producing more diesel is difficult because Middle East refineries were damaged early in the war, and Chinese refiners are unable to get enough oil to produce any extra fuel for world markets.
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refiners → produce → markets
Recent attacks on Russian refiners by Ukrainian drones have further cut global supplies.
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attacks → cut → supplies
US refineries have access to domestic oil but are running at maximum capacity, Thummel says.
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Thummel → have → capacity
The White House has characterized its recent executive order to temporarily allow greater use of red-dye diesel as a cost-saving measure for farmers and truckers.
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House → characterize → farmers
This fuel is exempt from federal excise taxes because it is intended for farmers and off-road machinery and is stained red to differentiate it from regular diesel.
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it → intend → diesel
The White House says the 24.4 cents per gallon discount will save those drivers about $60 on a 250-gallon fill up.
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discount → say → up
Yet Hirs says it gives farmers more competition for fuel, which will raise their prices.
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which → say → prices
Farmers already are being buffeted by higher operating costs across the board and losing China as a key export market because of the US’s trade war with the Asian nation.
asserted
Farmers → buffet → nation
Prices could rise as energy demand increases in the winter heating months, especially in places that use heating oil, experts add.
uncertain
experts → rise → oil
Energy prices are seasonal, and prices are usually lower at this time of year since it’s neither cooling nor heating season, says Jay Hatfield, chief investment officer of real-asset investment firm InfraCap.
asserted
Hatfield → ’ → InfraCap
There are risks of higher prices if the fighting in the Middle East escalates, Hatfield says, pointing to a pickup of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia as an example.
asserted
Hatfield → be → example
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
