JD Vance falsely blames Biden policy for high gas prices. Iran war is mainly to blame. – PolitiFact

Market forces and global events like pandemics and wars tend to influence refinery production more than presidential policy, and the most obvious cause of today’s high gasoline prices is the Iran war, which was launched by President Donald Trump. California, not the U.S., has lost 20% of its oil refining capacity; the nation’s refining capacity has been largely stable. Climate change and energy policies introduced by former President Joe Biden could play a long-term role in nudging refinery operators to cut back or shut down facilities, experts say…

 https://politifact.com/factchecks/2026/oct/19/jd-vance/biden-gasoline-prices-refineries-cbs-town-hall/

Trump calls Ukraine’s renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries ‘a disgrace’

“There are a lot ‌of targets you can ‌hit, but when you shoot at diesel refineries where you make, you know, ‌diesel oil, and we need that, and the world needs that, then he’s not doing a good service for the world.”…

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/16/trump-calls-ukraines-resumption-of-strikes-on-russian-oil-refineries-a-disgrace

 

Trump’s deal with Putin will have little impact on US diesel prices, experts say

Analysts say fuel will take weeks to ship and quantity is too small to affect prices, while full deal is unlikely to be met given damage to Russian refineries…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/11/trump-russia-diesel-deal-putin-little-impact-prices

 

Dense, sticky and heavy: why Venezuelan crude oil appeals to US refineries

Venezuelan oil is particularly dense and sticky. The high-sulphur crude more closely resembles a semi-solid tar than the far clearer liquids produced in US shale heartlands, making it more difficult to extract and process into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and feedstock for the chemicals industry. But it is exactly what many refineries in the US were built to treat. 

As a result, the US remains a major importer of crude to feed its refineries, despite being one of the biggest oil exporters in the world. Access to Venezuelan crude at an attractive price could play an important role in sating Trump's appetite for cheap energy to fuel the "reindustrialisation" of the US economy...

 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/05/venezuelan-crude-oil-appeals-to-us-refineries