You have probably noticed that gasoline is starting to become extremely expensive. That is really bad news for all of us, because our entire way of life depends on cheap energy. We can’t make stuff without energy. We can’t move stuff without energy. That is why the cost of energy directly affects the cost of everything else. In fact, energy is literally the foundation of our entire economy. If we have cheap energy we will have a high standard of living. If we do not have cheap energy we will not have a high standard of living. It really is that simple.
Prior to the war with Iran, energy prices were quite low, but now everything has changed.
Oil production in the Persian Gulf has dropped by 57 percent from pre-war levels, and hardly any oil and natural gas have been getting through the Strait of Hormuz over the past couple of months.
As a result, energy prices are soaring all over the world.
Here in the United States, the average price of a gallon of gasoline just hit $4.30…
Gasoline prices nationwide surged 27 cents over the past week as oil prices spiked. Drivers paid $4.30 per gallon on average across the U.S. Thursday, compared to $4.03 a week ago.
In late February, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was less than 3 dollars a gallon.
At this point, U.S. consumers are paying $1.32 more per gallon than they did just prior to the war.
If the conflict with Iran is not resolved quickly, things will get a lot worse.
In order to get an idea of where things could be headed, just look at what is going on in California.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline in California just reached $6.01…
California gasoline prices hit $6 per gallon on Thursday, a 30% increase since the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran in late February.
Drivers in California are paying the most in the nation at $6.01 per gallon on average, according to data from AAA.
A 30 percent increase in two months is crazy.
But this is the reality that we are living in now.
Before the war began, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in California was just $4.64.
This just shows how rapidly conditions can change.
Needless to say, the price of diesel has been going up even faster.
In California, it is up a whopping 47 percent since the beginning of the war…
Diesel, meanwhile, cost about $7.50 per gallon on average in California on Thursday, a 47% increasse since the war broke out on Feb. 28. Diesel is essential for the economy because the fuel is used by trucks and trains to deliver all the goods that consumers buy.
If prices for gasoline and diesel remain at these elevated levels, it will be very painful, but we can survive this.
But what will happen if oil prices continue to skyrocket?
On Thursday, the price of Brent crude actually hit $126 a barrel before falling back…
Oil prices surged to a wartime high Thursday, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, topping $126 a barrel as concerns grew that the Iran war will drag on, tightening global energy supplies.
We are being warned that the price of oil could easily reach 150 dollars a barrel if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened quickly.
Unfortunately, it does not appear that is going to happen any time soon.
So I am encouraging everyone to prepare for an extended crisis.
Literally just about everything is going to become more expensive.
And that is really bad news, because a survey that was conducted before the war ever began discovered that more than half of all Americans were struggling to pay their bills on time each month…
A separate survey of 5,000 Americans, conducted by Talker Research for Current in December 2025, adds context to how raw the financial picture looks. In that study, 87% of respondents said the country is in a crisis because of how unaffordable life has become. More than half (52%) said they struggle to pay their bills on time each month, and 50% said they’ve had difficulty affording groceries.
Please read that paragraph again.
That was where we were at prior to the war with Iran.
Needless to say, substantially elevated energy prices will make our affordability crisis a great deal worse.
Of course it isn’t just U.S. consumers that are being affected by this.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that “the whole of humanity is paying the price” and that we are now facing the “specter of global recession”…
The head of the United Nations warned Thursday of the “specter of global recession” if the U.S.-Iran war doesn’t end soon, imploring both sides to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and “let the global economy breathe again.”
Speaking to journalists in New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that despite the “fragile ceasefire” between the U.S. and Iran, the consequences of their ongoing standoff in the Strait of Hormuz “grow dramatically worse with each passing hour.”
“As with every conflict, the whole of humanity is paying the price,” he said. “The pain will be felt for a long time to come.”
I normally do not agree with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about anything.
But in this case, he is right on target.
If the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen soon, there is no way that we are going to avoid a major global economic downturn.
Guterres is also claiming that 45 million people living on this planet could soon fall into “extreme hunger”…
If the constraint on shipping through the strait “drags on through midyear,” he said 32 million people would fall into poverty and 45 million “into extreme hunger,” he said.
According to the UN, the number of people experiencing acute hunger was already at an all-time record high even before the war with Iran started.
Now we are facing the worst fertilizer crisis in history. If you have not read the breakdown that I published about this earlier in the week, please go back and read it now.
There are so few prominent voices that are telling the truth about this.
The spring planting season in the northern hemisphere is going to be a disaster, and six to nine months from now global food shortages are going to hit us like a freight train.
Food prices will rise to shocking levels in wealthy nations, and there will be widespread famines in impoverished nations.
We desperately need the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened immediately, because we really are heading into an unprecedented nightmare.
Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.