TOPEKA (KSNT) – As the war in Iran enters its second week, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed to a near halt, oil and shipping costs are surging. That pressure is starting to show up at the pump and in the grocery aisle.
Gas prices are up nationwide, but Kansas remains on the lower end. Here, drivers have seen about a quarter‑a‑gallon jump over the last week. As the situation drags on, the bigger bump may be beyond the gas pump—in shipping, groceries and everyday items.
While the United States buys little to no oil from Iran, what happens a world away still hits home because oil prices are set on a global market. When shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slows, supply costs rise everywhere, including in Kansas.
“Everything’s interlinked together on a global market when it comes to oil. Any time you have a major hiccup anywhere in a massive oil supply, you’re going to have price points increase,” said Matt McLain, a petroleum analyst.
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In Topeka, prices at the pump aren’t at past spring highs, but the next stop is the grocery aisle. Higher diesel costs mean distributors pay more to move food on trucks, and that filters into shelf prices.
“I am growing more concerned because diesel in the first ten days of this month went up over a dollar a gallon, and we are still climbing,” McLain said. “There’s really no alternative other than raising the shipping rates at this point to compensate for that. And that will be passed on to consumers in addition to being paying more at the pump as well for their own personal vehicles.”
It’s not just meat and produce. Plastics come from crude oil, so items like sandwich bags, lip balm, cookware and even some school supplies could face upward pressure.
“You would be amazed at the different situations where crude oil has an impact,” McLain said. “When crude oil jolts up in price, it’s just a supply. It’s a demand, and it’s a price point. We don’t rely on Middle Eastern oil in this country, but Asia does. And we got an awful lot of our products manufactured in Asia and then shipped over here.”
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As the Hormuz bottleneck continues, McLain said it’s only a matter of time before the squeeze shows up in more places.
“We are looking at a potentially catastrophic situation in crude oil without the Strait of Hormuz being reopened and reopened very soon,” he said. “I need it to be placed into a context of we have a serious, serious situation and it’s only getting more dire by the day. We have got to get that Strait of Hormuz opened and passage in a safe manner in order to even begin to unwind what is still winding up and getting worse.”
McLain recommends driving at or below the speed limit to stretch your gas and using apps like GasBuddy to find the cheapest fill‑ups nearby.
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