US underestimates oil impacts from its operation against Iran — Politico

 WASHINGTON: The administration of US President Donald Trump seems to have underestimated the fallout from its military operation against Ir...

 WASHINGTON: The administration of US President Donald Trump seems to have underestimated the fallout from its military operation against Iran for oil markets, according to Politico.

While the US leader pledged his "energy dominance" team would ensure global peace early into his second term in office, 15 months later Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum appear "flummoxed by the surge in global oil prices in the wake of the US attack on Iran" as they are "scrambling to head off a bout of energy-driven inflation," Politico wrote. According to the newspaper, the two senior US officials are "in danger of fumbling the biggest energy crisis" of Trump’s second term.

"Energy experts say the administration underestimated the oil impacts from launching the war, which, despite near-record US crude production, has sent gasoline prices at the pump up 60 cents a gallon in less than two weeks," Politico reported.

Earlier, the US Energy Department announced plans to release 172 million barrels of oil from the country’s strategic petroleum reserve within approximately 120 days as it expects to "replace these strategic reserves with approximately 200 million barrels within the next year."

On Wednesday, member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to "make 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves available to the market to address disruptions in oil markets stemming from the war in the Middle East.".

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