Trump Administration Eyes All Options to Cut Oil Prices Amid War
The Trump administration is weighing a range of options for addressing the spike in oil and gasoline prices amid the war in Iran, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.
“Everything is being considered, and I think there’s a series of ideas,” Burgum said in an interview Thursday, adding that the list includes possible actions that would have immediate impact as well as longer-term and more complex options.
WATCH: Bloomberg’s Alaric Nightingale discusses the fallout from the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for the global oil trade.
Trump already announced the US International Development Finance Corporation would offer insurance at “a very reasonable price” as commercial firms retreat to help ensure the flow of energy and goods in the region. The president also said the US Navy will begin escorting tankers through the strategic Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.
Trump huddled with Burgum, along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other top advisers to discuss a range of options Tuesday before announcing the insurance and naval escort plans.
Doug Burgum
Other possibilities include releasing crude from the country’s emergency oil reserve — including a drawdown that could be coordinated with other nations to maximize effect. Administration officials have so far not moved to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Analysts and others in Washington have identified other options that could be considered by the administration, including waivers of fuel-blending requirements and even US Treasury purchases of oil futures.
Details of the DFC insurance plan are still being developed, Burgum said. “The team is working hard,” he said, citing the involvement of Bessent and Wright.
“We have an opportunity as the federal government to come in and establish, I would say, some normalcy,” Burgum said. “The US can take on some risk to help make sure that our allies in the world are well supplied, and we’re the only ones that could do that, because we’ve got the financial power and the naval power to make that happen.”
Burgum, who also leads President Donald Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, spoke to Bloomberg News as he concluded two days of meetings in Venezuela with the country’s interim government and oil and mining interests considering investments in the nation, following the US capture of former President Nicolas Maduro in January.
The effort to lower oil prices, which have climbed about 18% since the US and Israel began attacks on Iran, comes ahead of November midterm elections that could turn on cost-of-living concerns. Trump has prized gasoline prices that had slid under his watch — and are now threatened by the Mideast turmoil.
Source : Bloomberg.com
