Chris Wright says price increase would last weeks, not months, and that US would not target Iran’s energy industry
The US Department of Energy secretary, Chris Wright, said on Sunday that the spike in energy prices would last weeks, at the worst, not months, and that the US would not target Iran’s energy industry.
His comments come amid rising anxiety that Iran’s response to the US-Israel strikes, which caused a reduction in shipping through the strait of Hormuz and production slowdowns in some oil and gas producing states in the Middle East, may cause broad economic turbulence and higher inflation.
Asked about rising energy prices on CNN’s State of the Union, Wright said “in the worst case, this is a weeks, this is not a months thing”, adding that the US has “no plans to target Iran’s oil industry, their natural gas industry, or anything about their energy industry”.
Overnight on Sunday, plumes of thick black smoke and oil raining down could be seen over Tehran. Wright said the attacks were Israeli strikes on local fuel depots. “The US is targeting zero energy infrastructure,” he said.
