Vice President J.D. Vance and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are scheduled to meet with the oil industry on Thursday as the White House looks for ways to address rising fuel prices.
The meeting at the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, D.C., will also include U.S. governors and bipartisan leaders in Congress. API is a lobbying group representing all major oil and gas companies in the United States.
An API spokesperson told CNBC that the two companies will discuss “supporting reliable energy supplies amid global instability.”
Vance said Wednesday that the White House would announce additional measures in the next 24 to 48 hours to address rising fuel prices.
“We have a problem, we know we have a problem, and we’re doing everything we can to address it,” Vance said at an event in Auburn Hills, Michigan. “The next few weeks are going to be tough, but this is temporary,” the vice president said.
Diesel prices surpassed $5 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as the Iran war caused the biggest oil supply disruption in history. Prices have increased by about 35% since the United States and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic, according to data from travel association AAA.
U.S. gasoline prices rose nearly 29% on average to $3.84 per gallon.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a two-month waiver of the Jones Act to reduce rising costs. The Jones Act requires U.S. ships to transport goods between domestic ports. The exemption would also allow foreign vessels to transport oil and other energy supplies within the United States, potentially reducing transportation costs.
The United States also plans to release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The move is part of a broader effort by more than 30 countries to pump 400 million barrels into the market.
