The average consumer price of gasoline in Puerto Rico stood at $1.055 per liter ($3.99 a gallon) in August, 31.4% higher than 12 months earlier, according to data from the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO). Prices rose further in September, reaching $1.202 per liter at the end of the month, a 33.3% increase since the start of the United States and Israel attacks on Iran that caused the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, is around $111.33 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for the United States and Puerto Rico, is around $108.15. To push fuel prices down weeks before the midterm elections, Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday temporarily suspending enforcement of a broad package of sanctions against Moscow approved by the US Congress; the White House justified it as a response to the national interest.
US gasoline is around $4.28 per gallon ($1.13 per liter). Trump has said he does not expect the war, now nearly seven months old, to end until November, after the elections. Analysts are pessimistic: Goldman Sachs projects prices could top $120 per barrel, and Bank of America warns extensive damage to energy infrastructure could push them to $150.
US inflation was 3.7% in September; Puerto Rico’s August figure was 3.8%. The Federal Reserve raised rates a quarter point last month, to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%, its first increase since 2023, and the Federal Open Market Committee meets twice more this year, with analysts anticipating at least one more increase.