The US Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, confirmed on Thursday that the country will not ban oil and gas exports, a measure some countries have implemented due to supply chain issues caused by the war in the Middle East and the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration's energy official stated that the US is also the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and one of the main oil exporters. "We are also the world's largest exporter of natural gas and one of the main exporters of oil," Wright wrote on his social media account X. One of the main consequences of the military intervention in the Middle East is global economic instability caused by rising energy prices. US President Donald Trump has stated that the rise in oil prices and the disruption of the flow through the Strait of Hormuz will bring "a lot of money" to his country—in reference to domestic crude production—and insisted that his current priority is to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. The US "is, by far, the world's largest producer of oil, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money," the head of state even wrote on his social media platform Truth. To counter criticism over rising gasoline prices following the intervention in Iran, the White House is persistently pushing the message of US energy independence. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told FoxNews: "Thanks to President Trump, we are a net energy exporter." "They have no plans to implement restrictions on oil and gas exports," a measure that had been rumored to contain domestic fuel prices and which US Vice President JD Vance also denied today during a meeting with major oil lobbying groups. "Thanks to @POTUS, the United States is the world's leading producer of oil and natural gas," she wrote on X. "We don't need the Strait of Hormuz for our domestic energy supply (...) Of course, we want the strait to remain open for the global oil market to stabilize prices and achieve a decline." In the war against Iran, which began on February 28, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, much of the Islamic Republic's military leadership, hundreds of Iranians including civilians and children, and at least thirteen American soldiers have died. Despite Washington already claiming victory in the conflict, Tehran continues to respond with attacks against Israel and countries in the region where the US maintains embassies and a military presence.
