Fox’s Martha MacCallum pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday about rising gas prices and “relief” for struggling Americans amid the Iran war.

Wright joined MacCallum on Fox News’ The Story, and MacCallum focused her questions on gas prices, which have shot up from a national average below $3 a gallon to over $4.50 a gallon since the start of the Iran conflict.

“I don’t do projections,” Wright declared when it comes to gas prices.

The energy secretary insisted that everything that can be done is underway to relieve gas prices, noting domestic production and coordinating with ally countries is in effect. MacCallum pressed him on whether oil reserves should be used to provide “a little bit of relief” to Americans facing not only rising gas prices, but inflation woes as well.

“We did tap into the strategic petroleum reserve, and we are releasing oil today,” Wright said, as he argued that “this is a price we’re all having to pay.”

Check out the exchange below:

MARTHA MACCALLUM: So where do you expect the prices to go over the summer? What’s your assessment given supply and demand over the summer? Are they gonna go higher?

CHRIS WRIGHT: I don’t make projections, particularly about the future, Martha. But I will say that under President Trump’s leadership, you know, we’re at record U.S. oil production today, record-refining capacity. We changed the blending requirements this summer to allow us to produce even more gasoline than we would normally produce for the peak summer driving season. And with 30 other nations around the world, we’ve released extra crude in the market during this disruption because, yes, there is a disruption. Prices are higher than they would otherwise be, but I think President Trump summarized it well. This is a price we’re all having to pay, but the cost of inaction is vastly, vastly larger than this price.

MACCALLUM: So you change the blend a little bit. You increase production in coordination with other countries in order to try to keep prices down. Is tapping into the strategic petroleum reserve an option or is that off the table to try to give people a little but of relief while this while this plays out?

WRIGHT: No, absolutely. We did tap into the strategic petroleum reserve and we are releasing oil today. That’s what I was saying with 30 other nations. We are releasing reserves from our strategic petroleum reserve, and from 30 other nations around the world. But unlike the Biden administration that did it for political purposes, they sold the oil and permanently reduced the oil store in the SPR. We’re trading barrels. We also remember that. We’re trading barrels.

MACCALLUM: We also remember that President Trump wanted to replenish it when gas prices were very low. But I guess what I’m asking is: so there are different levers that can be pulled to try to keep prices either where they are or hopefully take them a little bit lower. And obviously when you crunch all that data together and you look at the calculations, I’m just asking you, because the president has said, look, we have to, you know, tough this out a little bit. So I’m just asking, would you think it’s wise to let people know that they may creep a little bit higher based on your estimate? Because the data is certainly being run right at your department.

WRIGHT: Yeah, but there’s so many variables in this. It’s very hard to make predictions because it’s not just today’s supply and demand. It’s perception of future supply and demand. Here’s where President Trump’s activities have been so helpful. I mean, oil prices and gasoline prices today are cheaper than they were four years ago during the Biden administration with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There was not an interruption of oil flows then, but the Biden administration was in the middle of its attack on the American oil and gas industry and people knew that did not portend well for future supply. The president’s been very clear we’re gonna continue to grow U.S. supply, we’re gonna grow supply from Venezuela and friends and allies around the world. So I don’t know where prices are gonna go but we’ll get through this disruption and on the other side we will not have a nuclear-armed Iran.

Watch above via Fox News.

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