As the U.S. and Iran pause hostilities after weeks of continuous strikes, oil prices in the global markets fell sharply. However, gas prices could remain elevated at the pump despite the decline in crude oil prices.

Refining Remains 'Limiting Factor'

On Monday, GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan posted on X, saying that while oil prices fell in the global markets, "don't expect much gas price relief." He then said gasoline futures were down 2 cents/gallon.

"If it fell similar to that of oil, it'd be down over 25c/gal," De Haan said. The analyst then said refining capacity remained a "major limiting factor holding up more relief" for gas prices.

Oil prices fell sharply across the board, with Brent crude falling 3.75% to around $85.05/bbl at the time of writing and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also fell 3.15% to $80.01/bbl during press time. Oil ETF United States Oil Fund (USO) fell 1.67% to $122.65 during pre-market trading on Tuesday.

Gas prices recorded a marginal decline on Tuesday. Data from the American Automobile Association (AAA) showed the national average still hovered above $4 at $4.0990/gallon. California had the highest average price at $5.6470/gallon, while Indiana residents continued to pay the lowest prices at $3.4740/gallon on average.

Trump Touts Thousand-Year Supply

Addressing a crowd at General Motors Co. (GM) facility in Milford, Michigan, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. had a "thousand-year supply of gasoline," which China did not, he added. Trump also touted oil from Venezuela. "When you add Venezuela to it, we really have more oil," he said.

Adam Schiff Questions Venezuela Oil Revenue

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) questioned Trump's Venezuelan oil comments. User @Acyn on X shared a video of Trump saying that the U.S. had reported $13 billion in revenue from Venezuelan oil, without giving any additional details.

On Monday, Schiff quoted the post, saying that "Trump and his cronies" were in control of the revenue from Venezuela's oil. "If the US has made $13 billion in revenue, why can't Trump tell us where that money's going?" Schiff asked.

The White House did not immediately respond to MarketDash's request for comment about Venezuelan oil revenue or gasoline supply.

Gavin Newsom Decries High Costs

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) also slammed the Trump administration for high fuel prices. "Thanks to Trump's war without a plan in Iran, Americans are still paying an extra $1 per gallon above what they were prior to the war!" Newsom's official Press Office handle posted on X on Monday.

It added that the costs accumulated to over $75 billion in excess costs consumers were paying to "Big Oil" due to the war. "END TRUMP's IRAN WAR GAS TAX!" The Press Office said in its post.