President Donald Trump promised to “drill, baby, drill,” but as the war in Iran stretches into its fourth week, he’s having a difficult time persuading U.S. oil and gas producers to expand production.
The administration has said it’s been reaching out to oil companies to persuade them to speed their drills to help curb the steady rise in gasoline prices caused by the war with Iran, which has caused the largest disruption in global oil supplies in history.
But so far that potential solution — like others before it — has failed to move the needle, as the market chaos brought by the war has left many in the industry unwilling to spend money on potentially unprofitable new wells. Trump himself has said that “when this is over, oil prices are going to go down very, very rapidly” — not exactly a message that will convince companies to start drilling more, industry executives said.
Much of the administration’s messaging has acted as a disincentive for drilling, said an oil and gas executive granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media. Facing blowback from Trump’s base over getting involved in another foreign war and the broader population for rising costs the intervention has caused, top Trump officials have contended the war will wrap in weeks and prices will quickly plummet.
