Energy Secretary Says ‘No Guarantees’ Oil Prices Will Fall Soon

WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday there were “no guarantees” that oil prices would fall in the coming weeks, despite President Donald Trump having vowed repeatedly that the United States will try to force Iran to stop attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

“There’s no guarantees in wars at all,” Wright said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.” “I can guarantee the situation would be dramatically worse without this military operation to defang the Iranian regime.”

“Right now, our focus is destroying their military capabilities, including those that are used specifically to threaten the straits,” he added. “But we need to finish those tasks first, and you will see the straits open again in the not-too-distant future.”

The Iranian military has been carrying out projectile attacks against tankers in the area, setting ships ablaze and sending the price of crude oil surging on world markets. It has also begun laying mines in the strait, despite the United States destroying some Iranian ships capable of that type of operation.

Wright said in another interview Sunday that the strait was not safe for tanker passage. “No, it is not,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

About 20% of the world’s oil goes through the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The average price for a gallon of gas in the United States has hit $3.699, up from $3.45 a week ago and $2.927 a month ago, the nonprofit motoring group AAA said Sunday.

Later in the ABC News interview, Wright expressed some confidence that the United States would be able to secure the strait within weeks.

“Yeah, I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks,” he said, adding that the war could also end sooner than that. “We’ll see a rebound in supplies and a pushing down of prices after that.”

He said the administration was “very aware” that the world “would have short-term disruption” as a result of the war that the United States and Israel started against Iran on Feb. 28.

“We would cause a little bit of increased prices on Americans,” he added, noting that “this is short-term pain to get through to a much better place.”

Wright also rebutted criticism from Democratic lawmakers and others who say the Trump administration did not plan sufficiently for Iran to stop oil tanker traffic through the strait.

“Of course meticulous planning went into what might happen with the Strait of Hormuz, how to deal with that,” he said. “Our chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Caine, is known for many things, but high on that list is an absolute meticulous planner of all of the scenarios that might unfold.”

On “Meet the Press,” the host, Kristen Welker, pressed Wright on the issue: “If you were prepared, why is the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed right now?” she asked.

“Because it’s right near the Iranian shoreline,” he said.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump and his advisers miscalculated the scope of Iran’s retaliations — it has carried out missile and drone attacks for the past two weeks across the Middle East, widening the war and disrupting the economy — and its ability to bring traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to a halt.

Wright deflected a question on “Face the Nation” on which other countries might send warships to help escort tankers through the strait, as Trump has promised would happen. Trump listed China, France, Japan and South Korea in a social media post Saturday. Trump plans to meet in Beijing with Xi Jinping, China’s leader, in early April.

“All nations of the world depend on products that come from the Straits of Hormuz,” Wright said, without mentioning any commitments from other nations to send escort ships.

In his interview with NBC, Wright said he expected “China will be a constructive partner in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran has allowed some tankers to pass through the strait, including ones carrying oil to China and India, U.S. officials said.

Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran, said in an interview Sunday with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the Iranian military was letting some ships through after diplomatic negotiations.

“We have been approached by a number of countries who want to have a safe passage for their vessels,” he said. “And this is up to our military to decide.”

He added that the military had decided to allow vessels from several countries to travel safely through the strait, “so we provide them security to pass because we have not closed this strait.”

Araghchi also said Iran was not ready to negotiate with the United States, despite Trump saying the previous day that Iran wanted to make a deal.

“We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation,” he said. “We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes.”

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Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday that “Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet.”

The International Energy Agency shared more details Sunday morning about government efforts to release 400 million barrels of oil into the market from reserves around the world.

Member countries in Asia, a region that is especially reliant on oil from the Persian Gulf, plan to start putting oil into the market “immediately,” while those in the Americas and Europe plan to follow at the end of March, the agency said. In all, the IEA said it had received detailed release plans for about two-thirds of the 400 million barrels.