HOUSTON — Asian countries want to buy more U.S. energy to reduce their dependence on oil and gas exports from the Middle East, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told CNBC on Monday.
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan rely heavily on exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil tanker traffic through the strait has plunged as Iran attacks commercial ships in the Persian Gulf.
“They want to buy more energy from the U.S.,” Burgum told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in an interview. President Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda is designed to provide U.S. allies with a stable, alternative supply of energy, the Interior secretary said.
The U.S. is the largest oil and gas producer in the world.
“Our allies and our friends can buy from us as opposed to having to buy from countries that either wage war or fund terrorism,” said Burgum, who travelled to Japan earlier this month.
