US President Donald Trump urged his administration on Monday to boost drilling rates and for market players to keep oil prices down amid fears that the aftermath of the US attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities could cause energy prices to spike.
Trump addressed the US Department of Energy in a post on social media encouraging it to "drill, baby, drill" and saying, "I mean now," despite no major oil disruptions after the bombings.
In another post on social media, Trump said, "Everyone, keep oil prices down, I'm watching! You're playing into the hands of the enemy, don't do it."
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright responded, "We're on it!" to the drilling message, in a post on social media.
It was not immediately clear what the energy department could do to boost drilling in the world's top oil and gas producer, where drilling decisions are made by private companies.
The DOE did not immediately respond to a question on Wright's comment.
Global benchmark Brent oil prices oscillated on Monday, as oil and gas transit continued on tankers from the Middle East after US air strikes against Iran over the weekend. It jumped nearly six per cent to a five-month high early in the session, then was down three per cent in afternoon trading.
The United States could tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world's largest emergency crude oil stash, in the case of severe interruptions. Wright also has the power to conduct test sales or exchanges of the reserve, limited to five million barrels, from the reserve, which currently holds about 403 million barrels.
Doug Burgum, Trump's interior secretary and head of a new National Energy Dominance Council that seeks to boost fossil fuel output, said on social media that US oil and gas production, "weakens the leverage of authoritarian regimes like Iran who rely on energy coercion to lead."
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Timothy Gardner and Ryan Patrick Jones, editing by Deepa Babington and Marguerita Choy)