Chevron CFO Eimear Bonner said "it's going to take time" for gas prices to go down despite the plunge of oil, following criticism of President Donald Trump.
Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe," Bonner said companies are doing "everything we can" to address the situation.
"What I would say is, we're all concerned about prices. So, there is a lot of empathy, whether it's in the U.S. or here in the U.K. or in Europe for consumers," Bonner added.
"It's going to take time though. There is a lag between, you know, oil prices and reductions in oil prices and when that shows up at the pump, but we expect that prices will come down as things continue to normalize."
The comments come shortly after Trump accused companies of "gouging" American consumers by failing to lower gasoline prices fast enough despite a sharp decline in crude oil costs. He said he directed the Department of Justice to investigate the industry.
"The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil," Trump wrote in a social media post on Wednesday. "Customers are being gouged," Trump added, claiming that he had instructed the DOJ to "immediately start looking into this."
Energy markets have undergone a dramatic reversal following an interim peace agreement between the United States and Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply passes.
Brent crude fell on Wednesday to the lowest level since February 27, the day before the war in Iran began. Gasoline prices have also declined, but at a slower pace. The national average gasoline price stood at roughly $3.91 per gallon on Wednesday, down more than 14% from May levels.
Trump argued that the gap between falling crude costs and retail gasoline prices is too large and that consumers should be seeing more immediate relief. "Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I'm seeing," the president said.
Gasoline prices typically lag movements in crude oil markets because fuel retailers and distributors often sell inventory purchased at earlier, higher prices. The issue is politically sensitive as Americans continue to rank inflation and living costs among their top concerns. Although gasoline prices have retreated from recent highs, they remain significantly above levels seen before tensions in the Middle East disrupted global energy markets earlier this year.
