What's the war in Iran costing American consumers?
Mar 09, 2026•9 min
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Episode description
Americans are paying more for gas than they were a week ago.
On Sunday, the price of oil hit $118 a barrel. It's since come down from those highs, but remains up sharply from the pre-war price of $70.
The price is being pushed up by disruption to oil supply out of the Persian Gulf – The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, typically handles around 20 million barrels of oil a day – close to a fifth of global oil consumption.
But the war has brought tanker traffic in the Strait to basically a standstill.
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This episode was produced by Mia Venkat.
It was edited by Courtney Dorning, Kara Platoni and Luis Clemens.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
On Sunday, the price of oil hit $118 a barrel. It's since come down from those highs, but remains up sharply from the pre-war price of $70.
The price is being pushed up by disruption to oil supply out of the Persian Gulf – The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, typically handles around 20 million barrels of oil a day – close to a fifth of global oil consumption.
But the war has brought tanker traffic in the Strait to basically a standstill.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Mia Venkat.
It was edited by Courtney Dorning, Kara Platoni and Luis Clemens.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
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