能源部长克里斯·赖特周日表示，尽管伊朗战争已经进入第八个月，特朗普政府并未违背降低油价的承诺。
Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday said the Trump administration has not broken its promise to lower gas prices as the Iran war stretches into its eighth month.
CNN的达纳·巴什在《国家情报》节目中向赖特询问了他冲突初期的预测——即油价将在“几周而非几个月”内下降。如今油价仍居高不下，她质疑政府是否让美国人失望。
CNN’s Dana Bash asked Wright on “State of the Union” about his predictions early in the conflict that gas prices would decline “within weeks, not months,” and, with prices still high, asked if the administration has let Americans down.
“没有，我们没有，”赖特说。“达纳，我认为你应该——是的，我认为你对此很清楚。今年1月，伊朗政府在冲突爆发前就杀害了本国3万至4万公民。你对目前掌权且拥有核武器的伊朗政权感到安心吗？我认为没有人会对此感到安心。”
“No, we haven’t,” Wright said. “And, Dana, I think you should be –– yes, I think you’re well aware of that. The Iranian government killed 30,000 to 40,000 of their own citizens in January of this year before the conflict. Are you comfortable with a nuclear-armed Iranian regime that’s in power right now? I don’t think anyone is comfortable with that.”
“当我们在三月份讨论时，我说冲突部分——也就是我们当时正在进行的积极行动——将在四、五或六周内结束，而事实确实如此，”赖特说。“汽油价格确实下降了。它们从未接近每加仑5美元，更不用说超过5美元了。”
“And when we discussed in March, I said the conflict part, the active war that we were –– the active attacks we were making would be over in four or five or six weeks, and they were,” Wright said. “Gasoline prices did come down. They never got remotely close to $5 a gallon, over $5 a gallon.”
巴什继续追问他对当前油价水平是否满意，促使他回答：“当然我不满意，但我很高兴它们正在下降。”“过去几周，汽油价格一直在下降，柴油价格也是如此，而且它们将继续下降。这是特朗普总统每天都在努力的事情，”他补充道。
Bash pressed the secretary on whether he is comfortable with where gas prices are, prompting him to reply, “No, of course I’m not comfortable but I’m happy they’re coming down.”“They have gone down the last few weeks, as have diesel prices, and they will continue to come down. That’s what President Trump works on every day,” he added.
根据美国汽车协会（AAA）的数据，美国全国平均油价在周日为每加仑4.29美元。去年同期的平均价格为3.04美元。
The average cost of gas in the U.S. is $4.29 on Sunday, according to AAA. Last year, the average was $3.04.
但一些州在伊朗战争爆发后油价飙升超过5美元，尤其是美国西部地区。华盛顿州平均油价为5.39美元，内华达州为5.40美元，夏威夷州为5.63美元，加利福尼亚州为6.18美元，洛杉矶地区部分加油站的油价甚至一度超过7美元。
But some states have seen gas prices soar over $5 since the Iran war began, notably in the western U.S. The average in the state of Washington is $5.39, $5.40 in Nevada, $5.63 in Hawaii and $6.18 in California, with some gas stations in the Los Angeles area peaking over $7.
赖特在5月表示，他正在避免对汽油价格何时下降作出预测，此前他在3月曾预测汽油价格将在夏季降至每加仑3美元以下，但他也表示“没有保证”。他随后在下个月表示，汽油价格可能要到2027年才会跌破3美元，这一言论引发了特朗普的批评，特朗普称赖特“完全错了”。特朗普本月早些时候宣布了一项与俄罗斯的柴油协议，称俄罗斯将“立即”向美国和全球市场供应30万吨柴油，另50万吨将在11月到货。此举是由于柴油成本上升所致，AAA估计美国全国平均柴油价格为每加仑6.53美元。
Wright said in May that he was avoiding making predictions on when gas prices would lower, having predicted in March that gas prices would dive below $3 by summer but that there were “no guarantees.”He said the following month that gas prices may not fall below $3 until 2027, which drew criticism from Trump, who called Wright “totally wrong.“Trump earlier this month announced a diesel deal with Russia that Russia would “immediately” supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the U.S. and global marketplace, with another 500,000 tons coming in November. This was prompted by the rising cost of diesel, which AAA estimates the U.S. average is $6.53.
但该协议在获批对俄制裁方案之际，引发了两党议员的强烈反对，因为该制裁是在俄乌战争背景下通过的。一些专家表示，将俄罗斯原油释放到市场可能无法降低美国的柴油成本。
But the deal drew outcry from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle after approving a sanctions package on Russia amid its war with Ukraine. Some experts say that the release of Russian oil into the marketplace may not lower the cost of diesel in the U.S.
“宣布的俄罗斯柴油供应量仅占未来几个月美国柴油需求的很小一部分，少于5%，因此对美国零售价的影响应该非常有限，”伍德麦肯兹公司零售燃料首席分析师伊莎贝尔·吉尔克斯此前在一份声明中曾对《国会山报》这样表示。
“The announced Russian diesel volumes are a small fraction, less than 5 percent, of U.S. diesel demand over the next few months, so they should have very limited impact on U.S. retail prices,” Isabelle Gilks, principal analyst for retail fuels at Wood Mackenzie, previously told The Hill in a statement.