Amos Hochstein, a senior state department adviser for energy security, said on Sunday that he expects gas prices in the U.S. to fall to $4 per gallon.
The big picture: After months of skyrocketing, prices at the pump have finally begun to fall.
- The national average had dropped to $4.532 per gallon as of July 17, according to the AAA average.
Driving the news: Both oil prices and prices at the pump have been falling quickly, Hochstein noted on CBS's "Face the Nation."
- "I expect [the national average gas price] to come down more toward $4 and we already have many gas stations around the country that are below $4," Hochstein said.
- "This is the fastest decline rate that we've seen against a major increase of oil prices during a war in Europe where one of the parties in the war is the third largest producer in the world. So these are extraordinary circumstances."
- Hochstein added that some major oil producers in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have spare capacity and he hinted that they could increase supply to the market.
