Gas prices to jump over $3 in red states this summer, oil expert says

Oil prices soaring to a nearly six month high after the Trump administration said it won’t renew waivers that allowed countries to buy Iranian oil without facing U.S. sanctions.

OPIS Global Head of Energy Analysis Tom Kloza told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo gas prices will continue to rise, creating a “summer of sizzle” for U.S. drivers.

“Watch the price of gas. We’re going to be over $3 in red states before long and I didn’t think that was going to happen this summer,” he said on Tuesday.

President Trump’s decision to end sanction exemptions for Iranian oil exports roiled energy markets and risks upsetting major importers such as China.

“Watch out for the relationship between the United States and China,” Kloza said. “China is of course one of the countries that’s not going to get a waiver. And to the extent that they try to go around the regulations or maybe look to stock pile crude, that’s going to have a big impact on the market.”

The decision not to renew the waivers is a victory for National Security Adviser John Bolton who had argued that U.S. promises to get tough on Iran were meaningless with waivers still in place.

“If the President and the State Department had waited until the fourth quarter, we probably could have mustered up another million barrels a day of Texas output because the pipelines will be working to bring the oil from west Texas to New Mexico to the rest of the country then,” Kloza said on “Mornings with Maria.”

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The current set of waivers issued to China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey, are set to expire on May 2.