Pain at the pumps will ease in a month or two, billionaire Catsimatidis says

By Shariq Khan

NEW YORK, March 11 (Reuters) – Consumers will get relief from the rapid increases in fuel prices at the pumps in a month or two, John Catsimatidis, the billionaire ​owner of a Pennsylvania refinery and New York supermarket chains, ‌told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

Supply disruptions caused by the Israel-U.S. war with Iran have sent fuel prices skyrocketing, posing a major threat to U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican Party ahead of midterm elections in November.

“I believe ‌prices ​will come back down in the next ⁠month, worst case scenario, two ⁠months,” said Catsimatidis, a major Republican donor, who said he thought the worst of the increases was over.

The U.S. national average price of gasoline has gained nearly 60 cents since joint U.S.-Israeli ​attacks on Iran started February 28, and stood at $3.58 a gallon on Wednesday, AAA data showed. Diesel prices have risen more than $1, ⁠and Americans expect prices to rise over ⁠the next year, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that ​closed on Monday.

Three more ships were hit in the Strait of Hormuz ​on Wednesday as the war continues. The strait is a ‌critical chokepoint for global oil supplies and its near-closure has forced Middle Eastern countries to cut crude oil production and their customers in Asia to reduce refining.

Catsimatidis, chairman and chief executive officer for United ⁠Refining Co, said the crisis highlights a need for more investment in U.S. oil production and refining, but it will require stability in White House ⁠policy. Asked if he ‌would consider upgrading or expanding United Refining’s 70,000 ⁠barrel-per-day refinery in Warren, Pennsylvania, he said: “Absolutely, yes.”

The ​U.S. has ‌not opened a major new refinery in nearly ​half a ⁠century, and energy experts questioned the need for one after Trump on Tuesday announced the construction of a plant on the southern U.S. border. U.S. refining economics are under pressure from the opening of mammoth new plants in Nigeria and elsewhere.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in New York; editing ​by David Gaffen)