Recently, oil prices have surged, reaching a national average of over $4.50, creating a headache for many households all across America. This has been due to the Strait of Hormuz closure. This has led many Americans, and students, to ask when gas prices will go down?

Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, which is responsible for about 20% of global oil supplies. This has majorly slowed the distribution of oil all over the world. There has been a loss of about 11-22 million barrels a day. That is about 1 billion barrels since the closure began. Connecticut goes through about 33 million barrels of oil in a year.

There has been some progress made with it being reopened recently, but it remains in a dangerous state and only operating at about 10% of its regular capacity. Iran has been using force to uphold their strict restrictions on ships passing. On April 18th 2026, Iranian forces opened fire on the Jag Arnav, an Indian crude oil tanker after a brief one day reopening on April 17th, abruptly stopping ships after Iran reversed their decision.

Rising gas prices have begun to influence the driving habits of Morgan students. Senior Riley Febbroriello, someone who recently has started to pay for their own gas after prices rose, has “started to pay more attention to [her] miles per gallon.” She has learned to save gas by “not accelerating quickly and making sure the pedal stays in the same spot.” Since she has done this, her mpg has risen from 16.5 to 19, and with gas prices in Clinton $4.60, she saves $11.50 on a tank of gas.

A teacher at Morgan, Mr. DiStefano lives around 30 miles from Morgan. On an average week he “has to fill up 2 times,” on top of that his gas “went from being 30 dollars a fill up to 45, it’s very expensive.” said DiStefano

Another student at Morgan, Jack Henry Palazzo is a junior. When it comes to getting gas, Jack Henry has some help; he said, “my mom pays for my gas, and I am very grateful.” Even though he doesn’t pay for his own fuel, Palazzo has recently been driving “without the AC on whenever it is nice enough to have the windows down,” so he hopefully doesn’t have to get gas as often.

While it is true that driving without your AC on, and having your windows open saves gas. It only does under certain conditions. While you are going under highway speeds, 55-65 mph, you will end up saving gas. When you exceed that speed, drag created by wind will end up making it less fuel efficient.

While the re-opening of the Strait of Hormouz unfolds we all are eager to not have to pay $4.50 per gallon while we are at the gas station.