This post is part of a series chronicling news coverage of rising prices in the United States. See more here.
GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan tells Norfolk's 13News Now we're in “the calm before the storm” with gas prices
De Haan: “The current decline that we saw over the weekend in the national average was thanks to optimism that this deal was going to materialize mid last week. ... Well, now it hasn't happened, so oil prices could start to reaccelerate again.”
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From a May 12, 2026, video uploaded to the YouTube channel of WVEC 13News Now
CONNOR RHIEL (13NEWS NOW ANCHOR): We are going to welcome Patrick De Haan from GasBuddy onto the show. Patrick, another Monday morning, another interview with you, another interview amid surging gas prices. It's good to see you. How's your week starting off?
PATRICK DE HAAN (GASBUDDY): Well, it's, you know, kind of the calm before the storm here, looking at some of these numbers. Unfortunately, the weekend, you know, we're always hoping that there's going to be some sort of end in sight to the situation as it unfolds, but we didn't get that. President Trump saying that Iran's offer was totally unacceptable. So, a bit of back to the drawing board here this morning.
Oil prices, as you would expect, are jumping. National average has come down a bit over the weekend. We're down about 10 cents a gallon from our peak here, which is good news, but that's maybe where the good news ends. I do expect that gas prices may jump up a bit here over the course of this week after that disappointing news that Iran and the deal they offered isn't up to snuff, and that could push oil prices up. Well, oil prices were closer to a $100 a barrel in overnight trade. It looks like we're down to about $97 a barrel. So there may be some other news in the background here.
But, back to the drawing board, another week starting off with the Strait of Hormuz closed. I believe this is now the eleventh straight Monday the strait has remained closed, and you and I are paying, certainly more at the pump because of it. Diesel prices now nationally, just about 20 cents a gallon away from reaching a new all-time record. And I do believe that diesel may see a new record here in the next week or two.
RHIEL: Keeping our eyes out for that diesel record, of course, and that affects so many more industries than just, you know, filling up your car to get to work. And so that's something we're always monitoring. You mentioned other news in the background that could potentially impact prices. To what — can you expand on that a little bit? What else could be sort of a factor here in what we see?
DE HAAN: Well, you know, I haven't looked at all the headlines yet this morning, but as I mentioned, oil was closer to a $100 a barrel overnight last night. There may be something I didn't see when I woke up this morning. Generally, when we see oil going from a $100 in Sunday night trade back down to about $97, there may be a little bit of a development that I haven't read about here this morning. I know the president is in China, meeting this morning with Chinese leadership. So that is something we'll have to look at as I'm trying to read the headlines here very quickly.
Iran is dismissing Trump's criticism of their latest proposal, so maybe the market is hoping that Iran would be back to the drawing board. Parties are talking back and forth. That's good, but yet not the development that we are seeing in, you know, reopening the strait. So, another week starts with the strait closed, oil prices inching up, and that likely will impact gas prices here in the next couple of days. The current decline that we saw over the weekend in the national average was thanks to optimism that this deal was going to materialize mid last week. Oil prices fell back below a $100 as the president talked about this deal. Well, now it hasn't happened, so oil prices could start to reaccelerate again.
RHIEL: And that you know we see that. Negotiations are open, a proposal is sent, prices go up, and then when that proposal comes back, and it doesn't lead to a permanent ceasefire, we see — or prices go down, and then prices go up. It's the same thing; we're riding this wave of headlines.