Oil executives and senior energy advisors spoke out at an energy conference on Sept. 11 in Austin, Texas, saying that they see no scenario in which oil prices will quickly retreat, according to the Wall Street Journal. This stands in stark contrast to the Trump administration, which has repeatedly promised that oil is flowing again through the Strait of Hormuz and that prices will soon be on the way down. Speaker after speaker at the energy conference said the opposite. The Iran War is expanding and threatens to spin out of control. The fighting with Iran, Ukraine, and the Houthi militias has left oil refineries and pipelines out of service, and entire fleets of oil tankers stranded. Fuel supplies are depleted, strategic reserves are tapped-out.

Chevron’s Chief Executive Mike Wirth said that all of the traditional mechanisms that could be used to stabilize oil supplies and lower prices “have largely now played out, and we don’t have nearly the buffers in the system that we did when it began.” U.S. crude prices have soared 19% in three weeks, and demand for diesel will increase as farmers harvest their crops. For months these energy insiders have warned of the consequences of any disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz.