Amid soaring oil prices and global panic, US President Donald Trump on Thursday set his priorities straight, stressing that stopping Iran from having nuclear weapons is of “far greater importance” to him than surging oil prices.
While the world scrambles to deal with the oil crisis in the face of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing US-Iran war, Trump said that Washington, being the “largest oil producer in the world”, makes money when oil prices go up.
In a post on Truth Social, he said: “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. But, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the world. I won’t ever let that happen! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
This comes against the backdrop of the US-Iran war, which has spilt over into the Middle East, disrupting global oil supply. Trump’s remarks on the Iran war have been contradictory. On the one hand, he has spoken of the war “ending soon”, while on the other, he said that the US military is “not finished yet”.
The US President also asserted that he is not worried about any Iranian attack on US soil. “We have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit, and we’re not finished yet,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the war is creating the biggest oil supply shock ever recorded in the global markets. Middle Eastern Gulf producers have reportedly reduced their output by 10 million barrels per day, which is nearly 10 per cent of the global oil demand.
Global benchmark Brent crude briefly soared past $100 per barrel, rising as much as 10 per cent during trading on Thursday, Bloomberg reported. West Texas Intermediate climbed close to $96 per barrel before prices eased slightly.
In a bid to help ease the pressure on global markets, the IEA earlier announced the coordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves of its member countries.
The US also said that it would release 172 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to the Hindustan Times.
Emmanuel Addeh
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