“The U.S. is tapping in to its national stocks of crude with abandon. The withdrawals are taking a toll on the strategic reserve system,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Just in the past four years, the Biden and Trump administrations have ordered the largest releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while seeking to tamp down soaring oil prices—a total of 352 million barrels, or nearly half the capacity of the stocks.”

“Now, frequent drawdowns, wear-and-tear and a lack of investments are straining the reserve.”

“The White House announced the first ‘Freedom Fuel’ gas station, which it says is selling gas at a below-market rate of $3.47 a gallon,” CBS News reports.

“The White House did not immediately respond to CBS News’ inquiry about who operates Freedom Fuel, or how it is offering gasoline at more than 30 cents a gallon below the national average.”

“The latest cracks in the cease-fire between the United States and Iran have jolted an oil market that in recent weeks seemed to think durable peace between the countries was within reach,” the New York Times reports.

“By midday Wednesday, international oil prices were approaching $80 a barrel, their highest level in weeks, after President Trump said the temporary truce with Iran was ‘over.'”

“Oil markets are taking President Trump’s claim that the Iran ceasefire is ‘over’ seriously, but not literally,” Axios reports.

“The price jump is big, but even now, there are signs that the markets aren’t expecting a complete return to war.”

“Oil prices spiked on Wednesday to the highest level in weeks after President Trump said that he thought the cease-fire with Iran was ‘over’ amid a series of strikes in the Persian Gulf,” the New York Times reports.

“The Trump administration also revoked a waiver that allowed Iran to sell oil in retaliation for attacks on tankers this week in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial conduit for the world’s energy.”

NewsNation: Oil prices jump 5 percent after U.S. revokes Iran oil sanctions waiver.

“Americans hit the peak of the summer driving season this July 4 holiday weekend wincing at the cost of gasoline, still running nearly a dollar a gallon higher than before the war with Iran despite falling sharply in recent weeks,” Bloomberg reports.

“The average regular U.S. gasoline price is $3.85 as of Thursday morning, per AAA data,” Axios reports.

“That’s lower than it was, but it’s by far the highest price heading into the July 4 weekend since 2022, when the national average was $4.80 on the holiday itself.”

“Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans in the US House of Representatives are asking President Donald Trump to allow a waiver of a century-old shipping law granted in March to tame fuel prices to expire,” Bloomberg reports.

“The lawmakers said in a letter to the president made public Wednesday that the 126-year-old Jones Act is crucial for protecting the US maritime industry and that the waiver is being exploited by other nations. They urged Trump to allow it to lapse as scheduled on Aug. 16.”

“The Trump administration on Monday said it would pay Duke Energy $129 million to abandon its plans to build an offshore wind farm off North Carolina,” the New York Times reports.

“It was the fourth such deal struck by the administration to throttle the development of offshore wind power, a source of renewable energy that President Trump has disparaged for decades.”

Bloomberg: Trump pulls plug on Carolina wind project as cancellations mount.

Axios: “From early April peaks, U.S. crude oil was down roughly 36% through Tuesday. Brent, the global benchmark, was down about 44%.”

“U.S. gasoline prices are down too, but not as much, with the national average all-grade price of a regular gallon down about 12.5% from its recent peak of $4.63 in mid-May to $4.05 this week.”

Bloomberg: Trump warns ‘big trouble’ for oil companies if price gouging.

“President Trump is pulling from a familiar Democratic playbook as he wrestles with sticky gasoline prices: blaming Big Oil,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“During the U.S. war against Iran, Trump repeatedly promised that prices at the pump would fall quickly once the conflict ended. But 10 days after he announced an agreement with Iran, the price of a gallon of gasoline still hovers around $3.93—nearly $1 higher than before the hostilities broke out.”

“Now, Trump is accusing his own oil allies of gouging consumers.”

“President Trump says he ordered the Justice Department to probe whether oil companies are gouging consumers,” Axios reports.

“It shows a new level of Trump’s frustration with prices at the pump — and introduces a new wild card for oil companies, depending on what the Justice Department decides to do with the president’s overnight Truth Social post.”

“The Interior Department issued a pair of proposed rules that would reduce costs and weaken requirements for fossil fuel companies that operate on federal lands,” the New York Times reports.

“The first rule would drastically lower the fees that companies must pay before drilling, while the second could allow firms to release more methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.”

“The war with Iran has pulled the American oil industry out of a slump, raising corporate profits and spurring some companies to drill more wells,” the New York Times reports.

“U.S. oil production is now forecast to grow modestly next year, topping 14 million barrels a day for the first time.”

“But the war, paused for now by a preliminary deal, is unlikely to provide enough of a lift for the United States to take significant business from Persian Gulf countries that have been hobbled by the conflict, oil executives and investors said.”