US treasury secretary warns oil and gas companies to lower prices: ‘We’re watching’
Article excerpt
Scott Bessent says he ‘encourages them to be good actors’ after Trump ranted about prices not dropping fast enough Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, issued a veiled warning to oil and gas companies to lower their prices on Tuesday, a day after Donald Trump berated those retailers on social media for not dropping their prices fast enough and demanded they target $2.50 a gallon. “I would encourage them to be good actors, especially in the 250th anniversary, because we’re watching,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday morning, addressing big oil, independent and international retailers. Continue reading...
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a warning to big oil companies on Tuesday, saying the Trump Administration is “watching” you.
As he joined Fox & Friends, Bessent said gas sellers need to bring their prices down ASAP because President Donald Trump’s administration was tracking how quickly prices shot up during the Iran war; if there isn’t an equally big drop, Bessent said the oil companies could have problems with the government.
“We’ve got a chart of how quickly the prices went up and how they followed crude, and we’re going to hold them accountable on the other side. President Trump talked about it last week, [and] he had a very powerful Truth Social Post yesterday,” Bessent said. “So I would encourage all the gasoline retailers, some of them are owned by big oil, some of them are independent, some are international convenience chains, I would encourage them to be good actors, especially on the 250th Anniversary, because we’re watching.”
Bessent was referring to Trump ripping gas companies for their prices on Monday.
“Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY! They’re too high considering that Oil is now at $68 a Barrel, and heading south,” Trump posted. “The Retailers must quickly react to this statement, and do what they know is right, DROP YOUR PRICE FOR OUR GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE! There will be no gauging (sic), which is totally illegal. If Retailers don’t do this, big problems lie ahead!”
As Bessent was issuing his warning, Fox News showed crude oil had dropped to $71.51 per barrel; that’s down sharply from the middle of the war, when barrels routinely went for north of $95 and $100. Crude was going for around $72 per barrel in late February, right before the U.S. and Israel hit Iran.
Here’s how a few major gas companies have performed on Wall Street this year:
Exxon Mobil: Shares up 11% year-to-date
Chevron: Shares up 8.1% YTD
ConocoPhillips: Shares up 7.8% YTD
Co-Host Brian Kilmeade said national gas prices are about 50 cents higher than they were a year ago at $3.85; Bessent said the companies need to get closer to last year’s prices immediately.
“They probably had record profits on gasoline retailing,” Bessent said. “Now it’s time to do something for the American people.”
Watch above via Fox News.
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