Experts sound alarm as 'last shipment' from Hormuz reaches US: 'Going to be painful'

The final oil shipment out of the Strait of Hormuz arrived in California on Monday, sparking a major turning point for gas prices in the United States, several analysts and experts warned.

"The war in Iran and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz has actually been buffered by the fact that all of these tankers were at sea at the time that the Strait of Hormuz closed," said Michael Ross, a professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, speaking with ABC.

"So all of that supply has still been making its way to consumers. This is the last shipment of that supply that was keeping prices relatively stable. So that should worry us."

In the immediate aftermath of the Trump administration’s Feb. 28 attack on Iran, Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz – a shipping waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil trade flows – to U.S.-aligned vessels. On April 17, Iran re-opened the strait to U.S.-aligned vessels before closing it again within hours in response to the Trump administration’s newly implemented naval blockade, which Tehran accused of being a violation of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

With shipping vessels taking months to reach the United States from the Strait of Hormuz, the United States’ oil imports from the region have largely gone uninterrupted amid the U.S. war against Iran and the partial closure of the strait – that is, until Monday after the oil tanker named the New Corolla delivered 2 million barrels of crude oil to the Los Angeles County port.

"It would probably lead to gasoline that rises from $6.50 to $7 a gallon," said Patrick de Haan, an analyst for the data platform GasBuddy, speaking with CBS News. "It could lead to diesel that is approaching $8.50 or $9, and it could be restrictive for some airlines."

De Haan also noted that, even if the strait were to fully re-open “tomorrow,” prices would likely still remain elevated for some time.

“That would put us at 64 weeks, which would put us, I believe, into June or July of 2027,” De Haan told CBS News. “There's not really any magic to bite the bullet here. This is going to be painful.”

The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States reached a four-year high of $4.46 on Monday, up 35 cents from the week prior. Economic analyst Henrietta Treyz predicted recently that it would be “years” before Americans saw gasoline prices per gallon reach anything below $3.