WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will meet oil refining executives on Tuesday as he tries to tame gas prices sent spiraling by the Iran war ahead of midterm elections in November, the White House said.
The talks at the White House also come days after Trump announced a deal for a huge US stake in the oil reserves of Venezuela, whose leader Nicolas Maduro was toppled by US forces in January.
Republicans fear voters will punish them in November’s crucial US midterm elections after high fuel prices dramatically raised the cost of living for ordinary Americans.
“The president will meet with industry leaders to collaborate on the best ways to increase refining capacity, further unleash American energy dominance across the entire supply chain, and bring down prices for the American people,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement to AFP on Monday.
The talks were “especially timely as we increase Venezuelan crude flow to US refineries,” a White House official said separately.
The White House did not release a list of companies attending Tuesday’s meeting, but said it would include a “mix of small, medium, and large refiners and distributors.”
Trump said on Friday that the deal — which he called the biggest in history — would provide “majority US control” of 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan petroleum reserves.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven reserves. Its government has operated under intense pressure and close scrutiny from the Trump administration since the US ousted and captured long time ruler Maduro.
Trump is hoping the Venezuelan oil can offset disruption of global oil supplies caused by the Iran war that he launched with Israel six months ago.
The United States and Iran traded fire on Sunday for the first time in a month amid a stalemate in the war, with Iran keeping the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed and the US persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iran.
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