New Delhi, June 15 -- WASHINGTON - For four months, a steadily shrinking buffer stood between American households and the full weight of what the Iran war has done to oil markets. That buffer is almost gone.

Oil and gas executives delivered that assessment directly to the White House last week, warning that the commercial and government inventories that have kept gasoline hovering around $4.50 per gallon since late February are being drawn down faster than anyone publicly acknowledged - and that some could be wiped out within weeks. The timing, with summer driving season arriving and midterm elections in November, could not be worse for a president who built his entire economic argument around the promise of cheap energy.

Mike Sommers, ...