Trump to Meet with Oil Refiners as White House Seeks to Lower Gas Prices
US President Donald Trump is set to meet with US oil refiners and fuel distributors on Tuesday, as his administration looks for ways to expand domestic refining capacity and bring down gasoline prices. The meeting comes amid rising concerns over affordability, particularly gas prices, which have become a major voting issue in the midterms.
The White House says Trump will discuss ways to increase refining capacity, expand energy production across the supply chain, and lower prices for consumers. This push is part of Trump's broader agenda on energy dominance, which aims to ensure cost savings possible at the pump for consumers.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from early August, nearly half of Americans say the cost of living is their top voting issue, while 70% disapprove of Trump's handling of it. The administration is focused on 'concrete, near-term steps' to add refining capacity, including as more Venezuelan crude flows to US refineries.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods told CNBC in July that refining constraints had created a 'disconnect' between crude and pump prices, meaning more oil supply may not immediately translate into cheaper gasoline. Trump has previously praised fuel retailers for selling gas at lower prices and urged others to follow, but a recent lawsuit alleged that some discounted gasoline was supplied through a distributor who failed to pay roughly $4 million in fuel invoices.