President Donald Trump on Friday met with the chiefs of major oil companies and vowed that the U.S. energy sector will revive and he reiterated he saw a Russia-Saudi Arabia deal over oil production in the offing.
“We’ll work this out and we’ll get our energy business back,” Trump said at a White House roundtable with the heads of Exxon Mobil XOM, -2.94%, Chevron CVX, -1.32%, Occidental Petroleum OXY, +1.80% and other major oil companies.
At a briefing later Friday, Trump announced he is making space available in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to let American producers store surplus oil that can be sold at a later time.
Trump also said he discussed the idea of tariffs on imported oil.
Harold Hamm, executive chairman of Continental Resources Inc, a fracking company, has called for the White House to put tariffs on oil imports from Saudi and Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Friday, oil prices extended their Thursday rally on growing expectations that major oil producers will strike a deal to significantly cut production levels, as efforts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic restricts travel and trade and hurts energy demand. U.S. oil prices CLK20, +14.53% climbed by nearly 32% for the week.
Also see:Why a Saudi Arabia-Russia deal to cut oil output would mean nothing without U.S. cooperation.
Trump told the executives that President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are seeking to make a deal on oil output.
“President Putin and the Crown Prince want something to happen badly,” Trump said, reiterating that he has spoken with both leaders.
Now read:Trump doubles down on claim of Saudi, Russian oil cuts.
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