As energy markets grapple with ongoing global volatility, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that crude oil flow out of the Persian Gulf has surged back to pre-conflict levels, hitting roughly 18 million barrels.
However, addressing consumers still feeling the pinch at the pump, Wright drew a sharp line between crude production and domestic refining constraints.
Pointing to fallout from the war in Ukraine and historical domestic refinery closures, the administration argues that systemic hurdles continue to stall immediate relief for gas and diesel prices.
As officials work to rebuild processing capacity, relief may not arrive overnight.
Watch this video.
Transcript:
Anchor: “OK. Would you be brave enough to put a timeline on when they come down?”
WRIGHT: “I certainly can’t predict Iranian behavior. I will tell you, we’ve risen the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf to record highs right now. About 18 million barrels flowed out yesterday, basically pre-conflict levels. Oil production, we’re fixing that problem. Refining is the bigger problem. That is impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the loss of refining capacity in Russia. And, of course, we’re still reeling from the Democrat-driven closure of refineries all across the United States. If we had all those refineries that were closed, we would have dramatically lower gasoline and diesel prices today. But we will fix that problem, but we can’t unwind all the Democrat damage immediately. I wish we could.”
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TIPP Staff
