President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Tuesday at the White House with U.S. oil refiners and fuel distributors to talk about expanding domestic refining capacity and bringing down gasoline prices, White House officials said.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told AFP the president will “collaborate on the best ways to increase refining capacity, further unleash American energy dominance across the entire supply chain, and bring down prices for the American people.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and National Energy Dominance Council director Jarrod Agen are expected to attend, according to a White House official quoted by USA TODAY.
The meeting matters in Texas because the Gulf Coast is the country’s refining backbone. San Antonio-based Valero Energy and other operators with large Texas plants — including Marathon Petroleum, Chevron and Delek US Holdings — were among companies people familiar with the plans named to Bloomberg and Reuters. Reuters reported Exxon Mobil, which runs major Baytown and Beaumont-area capacity, was not invited. The White House did not release a public attendee list.
A White House official told Reuters the U.S. refining system is running near 100% of existing capacity, which is why the administration wants “concrete, near-term steps” rather than new plants that take years. EIA data show U.S. operable capacity near 18 million barrels a day. Gulf Coast plants are built to run heavy, sour crude — the kind of barrels the administration says it wants to increase from Venezuela after announcing a partnership last week that Trump said would give the United States a majority stake in more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.
Pump prices remain the political pressure point. AAA said the national average for regular gasoline was about $4.08 a gallon on Aug. 31. Texas drivers paid less: AAA Texas listed the statewide average at $3.61 and the Dallas average at $3.73, still well above year-ago levels after prices jumped when the Iran conflict disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz in late February.
Trump has accused refiners of gouging and asked the Justice Department to look into prices after companies posted strong second-quarter earnings. Industry executives have pointed to tight capacity, crude costs and the war premium rather than retail markups.
The session also lands as Tropical Storm Edouard approaches the upper Texas coast. Reuters reported Monday that Motiva and Exxon were preparing East Texas refineries ahead of the storm. Any coastal outage would tighten fuel supply just as the White House is pressing for more product at the pump.
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