President Donald Trump will decide whether the United States will participate in the International Energy Agency’s historic release of oil reserves to address supply disruptions caused by the Iran war, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told CNBC on Wednesday.
“What we’re hearing from the IEA today, I think, is reasonable on the IEA side, but it’s obviously up to President Trump whether the U.S. participates or not, and he makes the final decision,” Burgum said in an interview on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.”
President Trump said late Wednesday that he would tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to reduce energy costs.
“We’ll do it and then we’ll fill it in,” Trump said in an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC.
“I filled it up once and I’m going to fill it up again, but now I’m going to lower the price a little bit. That will bring the price down,” the president said.
IEA member states agreed on Wednesday to release 400 million barrels of oil reserves in response to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This is the largest such action in the organization’s more than 50-year history.
The IEA is a group of 32 developed economies, primarily from Europe, North America, and Northeast Asia. The United States is also a member of this organization. The IEA is tasked with maintaining global energy security.
The United States currently has 415 million barrels in stockpiles, according to the Department of Energy. This inventory represents approximately 58% of SPR’s current licensed capacity of 714 million barrels.
Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, said President Trump is under no obligation to participate in the IEA’s release of reserves. “He can decline the donation or he can take it piecemeal,” said McNally, a former White House energy adviser to President George W. Bush.
