With the midterms looming, Trump has no real way out of his gas price problem

Gas and diesel prices remain high, and there's no quick fix in sight. The national average gas price is around $4.11 a gallon, up more than 90 percent from a year ago, driven mainly by a shortage of refining capacity rather than a shortage of crude oil. Many refineries in the Middle East and Russia are offline due to conflict and drone attacks, and North American and Chinese refineries can't make up the gap. U.S. refineries are running near maximum capacity and have been for weeks, which is part of why oil companies are seeing record profits even as drivers pay more at the pump.

The Trump administration has tried a few moves to bring prices down. It's pushing to revive Venezuela's oil industry, with the Pentagon taking a stake in a company that controls a large share of the country's reserves and Chevron announcing plans to double its production there. But analysts say this won't help anytime soon: only a few U.S. refineries can even process Venezuela's heavy crude, and scaling up production could take years. Separately, the EPA cut short its summer ethanol blending rules and gave dozens of refineries waivers from mixing biofuel into gasoline and diesel, a move opposed by farm groups and some in the oil industry. It's unclear whether this will actually lower prices for consumers or just boost refiner profits further.

For homeowners, the takeaway is simple: expect gas and diesel prices to stay elevated for the foreseeable future, regardless of these policy moves. Nothing in the works addresses the core problem, which is a lack of refining capacity.