Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that "help is on the way" for U.S. gasoline prices as the Donald Trump administration tries to reopen shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and ease an oil-market squeeze that has pushed regular gas close to $4.50 a gallon.

"Help is on the way as of today," Bessent said on Fox News's "America's Newsroom." He said the conflict around the strait has left the market short by roughly 8 million to 10 million barrels a day.

Bessent said each crude carrier moving through the waterway can carry about 2 million barrels and argued that four or five carriers a day could begin clearing pent-up demand. He said more than 150 to 200 carriers may be able to move, making the market "very well supplied."

He also cast the price surge as temporary, saying the conflict will end and that other parts of the economy remain strong under President Trump. Bessent pointed to corporate earnings, employment and the stock market, saying the gasoline jump was a "temporary aberration" that could end within weeks or a month.

Iran has throttled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the U.S.-Israeli conflict, driving oil and fuel prices higher. AAA data at the time of publishing put the national average for regular gasoline at about $4.46 a gallon, up from about $3.17 a year earlier.

At the time of writing this article, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $104.3 per barrel. Brent crude futures traded at $113.3 per barrel. WTI crude futures climbed sharply over the past 24 hours, briefly surging about 5% and trading near $102-$105 after reports raised fears of supply disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and across the Middle East. Brent crude futures moved even more aggressively, jumping about 5% to around $114 before easing slightly.

Trump said Sunday the United States would help free commercial ships trapped in the strait. He described "Project Freedom" as a humanitarian effort for "neutral and innocent" ships from countries not involved in the conflict.

U.S. Central Command said Monday that Iran fired on U.S. warships and that American forces destroyed six Iranian small boats in retaliation. The U.S. military also said two cargo ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz under the protection of Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf.

Tehran did not outright confirm or deny the attacks. Early Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on X that the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates "should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire."