The White House is weighing measures to increase U.S. oil output as supply disruptions tied to the Iran war continue to tighten the market.
“We’ve been in constant communication with the oil companies, and have been considering measures that we could take here in the U.S. to increase U.S. production really soon,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Thursday. “There are things, regulations that are holding up, like how quickly stuff could come through … and we’re studying those, how we can change those.”
The White House is looking at regulatory changes that could speed up how quickly new U.S. oil supply comes online.
The timing lines up with a sharp drop in Iranian exports. Loadings have fallen from about 2.1 million barrels per day to roughly 567,000 bpd under the U.S. naval blockade, according to Kpler. There has been no confirmed passage of an Iranian tanker through the blockade zone.
President Donald Trump said this week that Iran’s oil system could “explode” under pressure. Analysts tracking storage and flows don’t see that happening on that timeline. Iran still has weeks of storage capacity, with estimates ranging from roughly one month to more than two months, depending on how quickly production is reduced.
Prices reflect the disruption. Brent crude was trading near $113.8 per barrel, down 3.58% on the day, while WTI was around $104.6, down 2.11%. U.S. fuel costs are rising alongside it. The national average gasoline price reached $4.30 per gallon as of April 30, according to AAA, up from $4.03 a week ago and $3.99 a month ago.
The administration is focused on near-term supply, but the timeline is constrained by project lead times and infrastructure limits.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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