HOUSTON – Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Monday that the Trump administration plans to bring additional diesel to the market in response to rising fuel prices.
“In terms of diesel, the idea is that we could bring additional diesel to market,” Wright said in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan. “I think it will happen before too long.”
Diesel prices soared about 40% to $5.29 a gallon, the highest level since 2022, as the Iran war caused the biggest oil supply disruption in history. Diesel is used in trucks and freight trains to transport goods to market.
Wright said the U.S. is not considering restricting diesel exports as prices rise.
“You don’t want to disrupt the free flow of energy trade,” Wright said. “We refine more oil than we can consume. If we block exports, we would have to turn away our own refineries and produce less oil and less refined products. That’s not productive for the United States, and it’s certainly not productive for the world.”
Wright told S&P Global’s CERAWeek energy conference here that the United States will release about 1 million to 1.5 million barrels a day from the Strategic Oil Reserve to deal with supply disruptions caused by the Iran war. He said emergency stockpile releases could total nearly 3 million barrels per day.
“We’re looking at 1 million to 1.5 million barrels a day from U.S. stocks,” Wright said. “And the total will probably be closer to 3 million barrels.”
Wright said oil from the U.S. Strategic Reserve began flowing Friday afternoon. The Energy Secretary said, “Japan also responded quickly, but some countries have responded a little more slowly.”
More than 30 countries from the International Energy Agency agreed on March 11 to inject 400 million barrels of oil into the global market. As part of this effort, the United States plans to release 172 million barrels from its strategic stockpile.
Wright told CNBC that the United States has no plans to release more barrels from its reserves. “I think that’s extremely unlikely,” the Energy Secretary said.
Oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has plummeted as Iran attacks commercial ships. This strait is the world’s most important shipping route for oil exports, and before the war, approximately 20% of the world’s supply passed through this sea route. Iran is also targeting energy infrastructure in Persian Gulf Arab states.
Oil prices have risen more than 30% since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28th. Oil prices plunged on Monday after President Donald Trump said Iran and the United States had held productive talks. President Trump said he would postpone attacks on Iranian power plants for five days.
Mr Wright described the oil supply disruption as a short-term challenge. He said prices had not yet risen enough to depress global demand.
“The market does what the market does,” Wright said. “Prices have risen to send a signal to everyone who can produce more to produce more. Prices have not yet risen enough to cause meaningful demand destruction.”
