US Energy Chief: Iran Conflict to Disrupt Oil for Weeks, Not Months

Speaking in separate television interviews - Fox News and News Nation - Wright on Wednesday (local time) said the United States and its partners were releasing strategic petroleum reserves while the US military works to restore security in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil shipping routes.

In an interview with News Nation's Chris Cuomo, Wright said the administration expects the conflict's direct economic impact to be short-lived.

"We've repeatedly said the conflict will be measured in weeks, not months," he said.

He said the administration had warned that the conflict could temporarily push energy prices higher.

"We have said, every time anyone from this administration spoke, we said this will be a disruption in energy prices, and they will move up," Wright said. "We've never denied that."

The energy secretary also rejected suggestions that the United States could directly control global oil prices, stressing that energy markets operate internationally.

"We've never said we control oil prices. Of course, that's ridiculous," Wright said in the NewsNation interview. "But thankfully, America today is far and away the biggest producer of natural gas in the world."

He said Washington had already begun releasing oil reserves as a buffer against supply disruptions.

"We announced the release of the strategic petroleum reserve using it for what it's for," Wright said. "We're trying to offset some of that missing oil by releasing oil from over 30 countries around the world."

In a separate interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Wright said a coordinated international effort would release hundreds of millions of barrels of oil to stabilise markets while shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain disrupted.

"We will release collectively 400 million barrels," he said. "This is to tide the world over while these flows are restricted by Iran."

Wright said the immediate focus of US policy was to weaken Iran's ability to threaten maritime traffic in the Gulf.

"The most critical thing right now is the US military degrading its ability to project power," he said on Fox News. He added that US forces were working "every hour of every day degrading their military ability to threaten ships in the Straits of Hormuz."

He said the administration expected shipping through the strategic waterway to resume once Iran's military capabilities were reduced.

"Hopefully, in the next few weeks, we will see ship traffic returning to the Straits," Wright said. "The world is going back to normalcy."

During the interviews, Wright strongly criticised Iran's role in regional instability, saying the country has been a major source of geopolitical tension that has affected energy markets.

"Iran is the root of the economic problems in the Middle East, due to the insecurity of energy markets," he said in the NewsNation interview.

He argued that weakening Iran's military capabilities would ultimately stabilise energy markets and encourage investment in the region.

"This will be a different world on the other side of this," Wright said.

- IANS