(WBEN) - Gas prices have hit over $4.50 per gallon on average in Western New York.
When can we expect that number to come back down?
Industry experts say it al starts at the Strait of Hormuz.
"Reopening the Strait is step one, for sure," said Denton Cinquegrana, Chief Oil Analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. "You get the Strait reopened, you get some semblance of normal traffic. Before the war, somewhere between 125-150 ships per day were going through. Now on a good day you'll get 10 or 12."
But reopening the Strait isn't a magic bullet. Cinquegrana doesn't expect that to immediately fix prices.
"We need to find out if energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf that was attacked, what kind of damage was sustained? Once the Strait reopens, I think that's step one," Cinquegrana said. "You're still many weeks away from some sort of normalization of supply in the world."
Once all of that happens, there will still be the possibility of increased volatility with prices if the threat remains that the Strait could be closed again
If the Strait of Hormuz were to reopen, how long would it take for gas prices to come down? We asked OPIS Chief Oil Analyst Denton Cinquegrana (@Cinco70Denton) that and much more as gas prices soar. https://t.co/esa13ZEjr7
— WBEN NewsRadio 930AM (@WBEN) May 7, 2026
