Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) went after President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Monday, accusing both of knowing full well what a war with Iran would do to the global oil map, and then doing precious little to protect ordinary Americans from the consequences.

Americans Need 'Answers' From Trump

In a post on X, Newsom took direct aim at the ongoing tensions with Iran. "Everyone knew Trump's Iran war would disrupt the Strait of Hormuz and skyrocket costs," he said, adding that Wright did "nothing" to protect the U.S. from the disruptions.

"Americans are OWED answers about what the Trump Admin knew and why they failed to shield us from these predictable consequences," he said in the post.

The White House did not immediately respond to MarketDash's request for comment.

Wright, for his part, had already been pointing fingers in the other direction as energy prices keep climbing. He said the previous President Joe Biden administration, as well as Newsom's administration in California, had closed down oil refineries, arguing that refining capacity is a big problem in the U.S.

ExxonMobil Joliet Refinery Goes Offline

Speaking of refining capacity, oil giant ExxonMobil Holdings Corp (NYSE: XOM) had its refinery in Joliet, Illinois, shut down. GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan shared purported visuals of the facility on X, saying the site had suffered a "total power outage."

The analyst added that the facility has a capacity of 275,000 barrels per day. De Haan also shared an update on the facility, saying operations had been restored, but it would "take several days to fully resume."

In a separate post, De Haan noted that Great Lakes spot gasoline "just" jumped 35 cents a gallon, with diesel prices up 22 cents a gallon, reacting to the Joliet refinery losing power. He flagged that the move will likely impact Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin, while Michigan had already hiked prices, so it wouldn't see an immediate effect.

ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to MarketDash's request for comment.

According to data shared by the American Automobile Association on Monday, the national average price of gas was $4.3163 a gallon, while the national average diesel price was $6.2301 a gallon.

Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures ending in October grew 1.60% to $103.01 at the time of writing. Brent crude futures ending in November also grew 1.42% to $107.18 at press time.

Iran's Security Chief Slams Trump

Meanwhile, Iran's Security Chief Mohsen Rezaee slammed Trump after the latter, in a post on the social media platform Truth Social on Monday, said that Iran wanted to make a deal "quickly and badly," adding that the U.S. was open to a "concept" of negotiations.

Rezaee wasn't buying it. "Don't get distracted by the U.S. president's mixed signals—from 'no negotiations' to 'we're ready to talk,'" he said in a post on X, adding that the stakes around the Strait of Hormuz and oil had changed. "Damage control won't stop what's coming," he said, adding that there would be "no talks until Iran's conditions are met."

Rezaee had earlier said that Iran would not allow the movement of oil through the Strait of Hormuz after the White House announced new economic restrictions on Iran. Tehran had demanded the U.S. return to the terms agreed upon in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both countries in June this year.

Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen struck the crucial East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia, leading to more disruptions in the global oil supply chain.

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