US petrol prices ease but remain elevated as midterm elections approach

US petrol prices fell ahead of the midterm elections as diplomatic efforts to end the US-Israel war on Iran continued, although drivers were still paying substantially more than before the conflict. The decline comes as voters identify the cost of living as a central concern heading into the polls.

The national average for regular petrol stood at $4.17 a gallon, equivalent to 3.78 litres, on Monday, November 2, according to the American Automobile Association. That represented a fall of 12 cents over the past week and 23 cents over the past month. A year earlier, the average was $3.04. On February 28, when the US and Israel first attacked Iran, it was $2.98.

Diesel also became slightly cheaper but remained elevated at $6.29 a gallon, down 6 cents from a week earlier. Prices first crossed $6 a gallon in September and subsequently reached a peak of $6.53. Meanwhile, a Financial Times analysis of federal figures showed that the average petrol price during President Donald Trump’s second term was set to rise above $3.46 on Monday, exceeding the previous presidential administration record under Joe Biden.

Oil prices fell 6 percent on Monday as efforts to negotiate an end to the war continued after face-to-face talks in Qatar over the weekend. In a post on X, GasBuddy petroleum analysis chief Patrick De Haan linked the market decline to Trump signalling support for negotiations rather than further attacks on Iran. He said wholesale petrol and diesel prices pointed towards a decline of roughly 16 cents a gallon, and forecast that the national petrol average could drop below $4 within the next week if the course remained unchanged.

The pressure from household costs remains politically significant. An Associated Press-NORC poll conducted last month found that most Americans wanted Congress to prioritise cost-of-living issues. That view was shared by 78 percent of Republicans and 89 percent of Democrats.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Al Jazeera that petrol prices would fall sharply once the conflict ended and that Iran would not have a nuclear weapon. Rogers defended Trump’s decision to take military action as necessary for US national security and credited the US military with increasing oil flows out of the Persian Gulf beyond their pre-conflict level.

Energy shares declined during midday trading on Wall Street. ConocoPhillips fell 3.7 percent, Chevron slipped 2.3 percent and ExxonMobil dropped 3.3 percent. Broader US stock indices moved higher, with the Nasdaq gaining 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 rising 0.6 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advancing 1 percent.