White House Meets With Chevron, Oil Traders Amid Iran Standoff

White House officials huddled with oil industry executives Tuesday to discuss steps to tamp down the surge in energy prices in the event the U.S. keeps its blockade of Iranian ships in place for months, according to three people with knowledge of the meeting.

The meeting, which was confirmed by the people who were granted anonymity to speak about private discussions, came as U.S. crude oil prices climbed back above the $100 per barrel mark and gasoline prices extended their rally to the highest level in four years because of the disruption of shipments from the oil-rich Persian Gulf.

The U.S. blockade is designed to restrict Tehran's revenues from crude oil exports and pressure it to strike a deal with the U.S. But Iran has responded by threatening the movement of oil and natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz, causing an energy crisis that has sent fuel costs soaring and forced many countries to scramble to secure supplies.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hosted the Tuesday event, a White House official said. Vice President JD Vance and chief of staff Susie Wiles also attended, the person said, as did executives from Chevron and commodity trading firms Trafigura, Vitol and Mercuria.

Two other people confirmed that the Chevron executive was Mike Wirth, the company's CEO.

“The executives discussed many topics including domestic production, progress in Venezuela, oil futures, natural gas and shipping,” the White House official said. “They discussed the steps President [Donald] Trump has taken to alleviate global oil markets and steps we could take to continue the current blockade for months if needed and minimize impact on American consumers.”

The meeting, which was first reported by Axios, was the latest between the Trump administration and oil executives to strategize about how to keep U.S. energy costs from rising and imperiling the economy. Oil prices rose to just shy of $107 on Wednesday, about $38 higher than the day the attacks started.

Rising fuel prices have become a serious political problem for Republicans, with the average cost of a gallon of regular hitting $4.22 on Wednesday, according to AAA. That’s the highest price since Trump took office.

Record petroleum exports and flat domestic oil production are starting to shrink U.S. fuel inventories, according to the latest status update from the Energy Information Administration, the independent data-gathering arm of the Energy Department.

U.S. gasoline inventories decreased by 6.1 million barrels from last week, falling 2 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA reported. Distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel and jet fuel, decreased by 4.5 million barrels last week and are about 11 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.

That could set the stage for more pain at the pump, said Andrew Lipow, head of oil market consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates. Gasoline hitting an average price of $4.50 gas is now "in the cards," Lipow said.

"The yellow lights are flashing," Lipow said. "It's bad news for the U.S. consumer."

Mike Soraghan contributed to this report.