Trump orders DOJ to look into ‘big oil’ over high US gasoline prices

US President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to "start looking into" why oil companies are not lowering pump prices despite lower crude feedstock costs

"Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I'm seeing," Trump said on his social media Truth Social June 24. Trump said crude prices were "dropping like a rock," but that oil companies "are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate." He added that US consumers were being "gouged."

"I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this," he said on Truth Social.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed RBOB gasoline by barge in New York at $2.969/gallon on June 23, up 2% since June 17, when Iran and the US signed a 60-day ceasefire, while Dated Brent crude was assessed at $75.39/b, down 6.1% over the same period.

Regular unleaded gasoline, US West Coast cargo, has climbed about 1% over the same period. The Los Angeles regular RBOB differential to NYMEX August futures fell 2 cents/gal to plus 27 cents/gal on June 23, breaking a two-day upswing.

S&P Global Commodities at Sea data showed about 1.45 million barrels of gasoline were in transit to California aboard six vessels. The Port of San Francisco is set to receive the bulk of the product (591,300 barrels), followed by the Port of Long Beach (452,600 barrels), Port Stockton (229,400 barrels) and Benicia (179,100 barrels).