All posts tagged: Exxon Mobil Corp

Trump can’t ‘drill, baby, drill’ his way out of this Iran oil crisis

Trump can’t ‘drill, baby, drill’ his way out of this Iran oil crisis

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump promised to “drill, baby, drill” on the presidential campaign trail. It’s not going to bail him out of this oil crisis spurred by the war he started in Iran, lawmakers and analysts say. Trump and Republicans last year aggressively ramped up policies favorable to fossil fuels after romping to an electoral victory in 2024 on a promise to lower the cost of living, including by quelling gas prices. Their signature domestic policy bill, known as the “one big beautiful” tax and spending measure, opened up swaths of new land to oil and gas leasing. The administration has moved to slash regulations that the fossil fuel industry views as hurdles. And it has pursued an aggressive leasing schedule to get more rigs operating on federal lands and waters. Now, Trump is confronted with a crisis there’s little chance of drilling his way out of. The war in Iran has whipsawed oil markets as the Strait of Hormuz has remained largely impassible. The strait carries about 20% of the world’s oil supply. And the …

Cuba confirms talks with U.S. — but warns an agreement will take time

Cuba confirms talks with U.S. — but warns an agreement will take time

Published by Sam Flores

Teresa Rodriguez, 58, looks at Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel on state television, as Diaz-Canel said the country has opened talks with the U.S. government amid a severe economic crisis and as the Communist government has come under increasing pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, in Havana, Cuba March 13, 2026. Norlys Perez | Reuters Cuba’s government has held talks with Donald Trump’s administration, the country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said on Friday. It confirms speculation that the two countries were talking after U.S. President Trump renewed his threat of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, saying the communist-run Caribbean island was in “deep trouble.” “These conversations have been aimed at seeking solutions, through dialogue, to bilateral differences that exist between the two nations,” Díaz-Canel said, according to a readout posted on social media by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla. “There are international factors that have facilitated these exchanges,” Díaz-Canel said. The country is facing a worsening economic crisis. The U.S. has imposed an oil blockade on the island since January, shortly after its ally and a key …

‘Don’t need to worry about it’

‘Don’t need to worry about it’

Published by Sam Flores

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday brushed aside concerns that the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the Iran war, which has spiked oil prices, would continue being a problem for the U.S. and the world for much longer. Iran has been “exercising sheer desperation in the Straits of Hormuz,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon press briefing. “We have been dealing with it, and don’t need to worry about it,” he said. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil on Friday morning was around $93 per barrel. A day before the war began on Feb. 28, a barrel of WTI was selling for about $67. Hegseth criticized media reports that claimed that before attacking Iran, the U.S. military lacked a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is the world’s most critical oil shipping choke point. “Of course, for decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage,” he said. “We planned for it. We recognize it,” Hegseth told …

U.S. Navy to escort oil tankers through Strait of Hormuz when possible, Bessent says

U.S. Navy to escort oil tankers through Strait of Hormuz when possible, Bessent says

Published by Sam Flores

The U.S. Navy will begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as “militarily possible,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News on Thursday. “That was always in our planning, that there’s the chance that the U.S. Navy or perhaps an international coalition will be escorting oil tankers through,” Bessent said in that interview. “My belief, that as soon as it is militarily possible, the U.S. Navy and perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through,” he said. Bessent’s comments came as the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to shipping because of the war against Iran by the U.S. and Israel that began Feb. 28. The strait is the world’s most sensitive chokepoint for oil tankers, and its closure has caused crude oil prices to spike. The Trump administration, for more than a week, has suggested that U.S. Navy vessels would escort oil tankers through the strait without that happening. Earlier Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC in an interview that the Navy is not ready to escort …

Three more ships struck in the Gulf as Iran warns of oil hitting 0

Three more ships struck in the Gulf as Iran warns of oil hitting $200

Published by Sam Flores

Commercial vessels are pictured offshore in Dubai on March 11, 2026. AFP | Getty Images Three more foreign ships were struck in the Persian Gulf overnight, authorities said, as attacks intensify on vessels sailing through or near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. The latest incidents come after three separate vessels sustained damage in Gulf waters on Wednesday and as Iran warns oil prices could climb to $200 a barrel. A container ship was struck by an unknown projectile about 35 nautical miles north of Jebel Ali, a major port city near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said on Thursday. The incident caused a small fire onboard, and all crew were reported to be safe. Earlier, two foreign oil tankers were left ablaze in Iraqi waters after having been struck near the port Umm Qasr, near the city of Basra. At least one person was killed in the attack, according to multiple media reports, citing Iraqi port officials, and 38 crew members were rescued from the …

Trump not worried about domestic terror attack

Trump not worried about domestic terror attack

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media next to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 11, 2026. Brian Snyder | Reuters President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he’s not worried about Iran executing a terror attack within the United States in retaliation for the ongoing war by the U.S. and Israel. “No, I don’t,” Trump told a reporter outside the White House when asked if he feared such a domestic attack. Trump also touted progress in the war against Iran, which is in its 11th day, before departing for a trip to Kentucky and Ohio. “Right now, they’ve lost their Navy, their Air Force. They have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all,” the president said. “Their leaders are gone, and we could do a lot worse.” Trump said the U.S. military is “leaving certain things” in Iran, which could be destroyed by the afternoon, if need be, and “they literally would never be able to build that country back.” He said the U.S. military had destroyed …

Gas prices threaten GOP lawmakers’ plans to win on affordability

Gas prices threaten GOP lawmakers’ plans to win on affordability

Published by Sam Flores

High gas prices are listed at Chevron gas station in Los Angeles on March 9, 2026, as gasoline prices surge amid the ongoing war with Iran. Frederic J. Brown | Afp | Getty Images Rising gas prices and no clear end of the Iran war are clashing with GOP plans to win the November elections on a message of affordability. Republican U.S. House lawmakers are huddled in Miami this week to figure out a legislative agenda and midterm messaging to spotlight lower prices and new tax breaks. Some lawmakers at the gathering acknowledged that the spike in gas prices — up more than 60 cents from a month ago according to AAA — is painful, but said they remain confident in President Donald Trump’s promise that the conflict in Iran will be over soon and gas prices will come back down. The morning after Trump reassured both lawmakers and markets that the war was ahead of schedule and would be over soon, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., echoed that the war is “nearly completed” and …

Democrats rebut Trump’s claim that Iran war nearing end

Democrats rebut Trump’s claim that Iran war nearing end

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., from center left, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Sen Jon. Ossoff, a D-Ga., and Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., during the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 24, 2026. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images Senate Democrats on Tuesday rebutted President Donald Trump’s claims that the war in Iran may soon be over, warning that the U.S. risks getting dragged into another prolonged conflict in the Middle East. The concerns from Democrats who attended a bipartisan classified briefing with military brass on Tuesday stand in stark contrast with the president, who on Monday suggested the U.S. may be nearing the completion of its operation. Trump’s statements sent slumping markets soaring and cratered oil prices that had skyrocketed in recent days. The senators were briefed as the Trump administration continues to whipsaw between explanations, goals and timelines for the war that has seen eight U.S. service members killed in action and left the longtime leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dead. “What I heard …

Hegseth says most intense U.S. strikes coming

Hegseth says most intense U.S. strikes coming

Published by Sam Flores

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday said, “Today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran.” “Iran stands alone, and they are badly losing on Day 10 of Operation Epic Fury,” Hegseth said at a press conference at the Pentagon with Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Hegseth said that in the past 24 hours, the United States had seen “Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they’ve been capable of firing yet,” even as he condemned Iran for attacking its Gulf neighbors, some of whom it had been allied with in the past, without provocation from those nations. He vowed the U.S. would send “the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes” against Iran on Tuesday to press to accomplish three military objectives. Those objectives, he said, are destroying Iran’s missile stockpiles and ability to make missiles; “destroy their Navy;” and “permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever.” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference on US military action in Iran, at …