US President Donald Trump has said he has ordered an investigation into major energy companies, accusing them of “gouging” drivers by not cutting fuel prices after wholesale oil costs fell on global markets.

Speaking to reporters in the White House on Wednesday, Trump said “gasoline prices should be much lower at the pump” as he named Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and BP.

His remarks come after wholesale oil prices fell from peaks reached during the US-Israel war with Iran and are now close to levels seen before the conflict started.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), which represents the oil and gas industry in the US, said fuel prices “don’t move in lockstep with crude oil”.

The BBC has contacted Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and BP for comment.

“Oil prices have come down so much and we are not seeing anything at the pump by comparison the way they should be,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“We should be, in my opinion, at $2.25 (£1.71) [a gallon] right now at the pump and we are higher than that.”

Earlier, Trump posted on that he believed drivers are being “gouged” by energy firms, adding that he had ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to “immediately start looking into this”.