A motorist fills up their car at a petrol station in Colorado, August 12, 2026
UNITED STATES oil reserves have sunk to a 40-year low, it was reported today.
They are so low that there could be damage to the massive caverns holding them.
CNBC is reporting that the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has fallen below 300 million barrels for the first time since it was filled in the early 1980s, after Washington released 172 million barrels in response to supply disruptions caused by the illegal war launched by the US and Israeli war on Iran on February 28.
Oil stocks are projected to fall to around 243 million barrels, prompting experts to warn that the rapid reduction could damage the underground salt caverns used to store the oil, reduce the reserve’s ability to respond to future energy emergencies, and leave critical infrastructure at increased operational risk, according to reports.
Energy experts told CNBC that while the US Department of Energy says the reserve can safely operate with as little as 70 million barrels, the practical operational floor is closer to 250–300 million barrels, warning that repeated large-scale releases over decades have weakened the ageing storage system.
Power-mad orange gasbag Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
An Arco station in Washington state sells gas starting at $4.73 per gallon in this photo posted to social media on August 17, 2026. (Photo by The Elk Plain Drifter/X)
Trump campaigned on fixing the affordability crisis but defends high gas prices as the cost of preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons that his own administration said Tehran is not trying to build.
The American Automobile Association reported Monday that drivers are paying more at the pump than ever before for this point in August as President Donald Trump’s war on Iran continues to disrupt global energy supplies—and he says he won’t apologize for the pain his illegal war of choice is inflicting upon consumers.
AAA said the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at $4.06 on Monday, more than 92 cents higher than a year ago and double the $1.85 recently promised by Trump. The price is the highest ever recorded for mid-August, according to GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan. In California and Hawaii, average prices are approaching—or exceeding—$5.40 per gallon.
The record gas prices come amid the protracted US-Israeli war on Iran that has killed thousands of people and severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy artery through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass. According to Reuters, only five vessels traversed the strait Saturday, and none did so Sunday. Brent crude was trading near $89 per barrel on Monday, while West Texas Intermediate was above $82.
Quite a side-by-side video of Trump talking gas prices
While Trump has said the war is “over” or nearly over dozens of times—The Guardian’s Robert Tait recently called the recurrent spectacle his “own Groundhog Day”—Iran currently appears to have the upper hand, as shipping has overwhelmingly avoided the US-supported route through the Strait of Hormuz, with most vessels using a course set by Tehran or eschewing the waterway altogether.
The Guardian reported Monday that US households have collectively spent an additional $56.4 billion on gasoline over the past six months—an average of roughly $477 per home. Meanwhile, major oil companies raked in a combined $90 billion in profits during the second quarter.
Trump, who campaigned on promises to tackle the affordability crisis, has repeatedly defended high gas prices as the cost of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons that every administration since George W. Bush’s—including his own—has said Tehran is not seeking to build.
“For you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember, you’re doing it so that a very evil country cannot have… a nuclear weapon,” Trump said Friday during a speech to law enforcement officers in Garden City, New York.
“So remember that when you have to pay a little bit more, you’re at $4; it’s OK… I’ll never apologize, I did the right thing,” the president added to raucous applause.
Americans today will spend $338 million more on gasoline than they did one year ago, or $2.35 billion more every week. https://t.co/M7EcIMtt4w
Critics slammed Trump’s remarks, with Congresswoman Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) noting on Monday that, while “Trump’s family got rich off of his failed war,” the American people—including his own supporters—“got screwed.”
“Now he wants to us to smile and accept the higher prices he caused,” she added.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Demonstrators from CND and Fairford Action during an emergency protest outside the main gate of RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, following an attack on Iran by a US B-1 bomber stationed there earlier this week, July 25, 2026
Peace activists and trade unionists to gather at RAF Fairford to protest against US bombers taking off from Britain to strike Iran
WORKERS and campaigners are demanding Andy Burnham put an end to US President Donald Trump’s use of British bases for his war on Iran.
Activists from around the country are to gather at RAF Fairford on Saturday to tell the new Prime Minister to break from his predecessor and end British complicity in “illegal” and “senseless” US wars.
“Trump’s brutal and reckless illegal war is making the British population a target and pushing the global economy to the brink of recession,” Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Sophie Bolt said.
“If Andy Burnham wants to keep the British public safe, he needs to stop dragging Britain deeper into this illegal war on Iran and call time on the use of British bases like Fairford,” she added.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field near Basra, Iraq
ENERGY firms raked in an excess of £6 billion in Iran war windfall profits this year, it was revealed today as households brace for yet another bill rise at the end of the month.
Campaigners said profits generated in Britain by these companies equate to over £200 for every household in the country, while a further increase in gas prices is expected in the next Ofgem price cap announcement on August 26.
Financial results posted by the world’s top energy firms revealed their British profits are only one part of their global profits, totalling £95bn in 2026.
Analysis from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) revealed the excess profits linked to global energy market disruptions as a result of the US war on Iran, which has increased cost pressures on households in Britain, as well as other countries.
Researchers looked at financial results posted by BP, Centrica, Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Iberdrola, Shell and Total.
EFPC co-ordinator Simon Francis said windfall profits must be considered alongside previous findings saying a third of households are “on the brink of, or are in energy debt.”
“These price shock profiteers are doing very well out of the Iran conflict, but they are doing little to solve the underlying problems,” Mr Francis said.
“As people brace for the next price cap announcement on August 26 and a third of households are on the brink of or in energy debt, the energy industry watches the profits climb.”
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Iran’s UN ambassador Kazem Gharibabadi in Vienna, Austria on 10 July 2019 [Aşkın Kıyağan/Anadolu Agency]
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi on Saturday said the Strait of Hormuz “is not a stage for extra-regional powers to display military force,” warning against “any military activity” in the key waterway, Anadolu reports.
“The Strait of Hormuz is not a stage for extra-regional powers to display military force.
“As a responsible power and the guarantor of security in the strait, Iran warns against any military activity in this sensitive waterway,” Gharibabadi wrote on US social media company X.
His remarks came in a post in which he shared a UK-France joint statement on the Strait of Hormuz, saying the two countries “stand ready to deploy the wider Multinational Military Mission to support freedom of navigation” in the waterway.
In response, Gharibabadi said the strait’s security “rests with the littoral states.”
“Those who create crises will bear responsibility for the consequences of their adventurism. This is a serious warning,” he added.
A memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US, brokered under Pakistani mediation, entered into force on June 18 after being electronically signed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump.
It provides a framework for ending the conflict and addressing outstanding issues between Tehran and Washington through negotiations, including a cessation of hostilities, sanctions relief, the nuclear issue, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and broader regional security arrangements.
A motorist fills up their car at a petrol station in Colorado, August 12, 2026
