President Donald Trump pressed US oil refiners to boost domestic production of gasoline or petrol and diesel during a closed-door meeting Tuesday, as he contends with high prices and mounting cost-of-living concerns before November’s midterm elections.
industry representatives said While some refiners are already importing volumes from Venezuela — particularly Valero and Chevron Corp. — taking on more won’t make geographical sense for some facilities across the US. Tensions on the issue were heightened after Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency on Monday granted a host of small refineries exemptions from some of those mandates. Administration officials on Tuesday acknowledged the political dynamic in suggesting their hands were tied on the issue, some of the people said.
The face-to-face pressure highlighted the political peril for a president who campaigned on reining in energy costs only to see them spiral amid the US war on Iran. They reflected a who’s who of industry, with leaders of smaller independent fuel makers such as Delek US Holdings Inc. alongside representatives from large refiners, including PBF Energy Inc., Marathon Petroleum Corp., and Valero Energy Corp. Renewable fuel quotas are a particularly thorny subject for Trump, dividing the agriculture and oil industries, two key constituencies.
US fuel prices are at the highest seasonal level ever with gasoline (also called petrol in most parts of the world) now fetching more than $4 a gallon and diesel nearly $6 a gallon on average nationwide, according to the American Automobile Association.
Roughly a dozen executives from fuel refining and distribution companies joined Trump in the White House Cabinet Room for the discussion, followed by a quick visit to the Oval Office, some of the people said. The gathering was dominated by talk about the Renewable Fuel Standard, the federal law that compels refiners to blend corn-based ethanol, soy-based biodiesel and other alternative fuels into gasoline and diesel, people said. Industry representatives took aim at the administration’s decision to set record-high biofuel-blending quotas, with some casting the targets as unattainable and describing them as driving up gasoline costs, some of the people said. At the same time, in a blow to the owners of large refineries, the administration also said it would seek to ensure other, non-exempted facilities are on the hook to blend those waived volumes in their stead. Refiners in Tuesday’s meeting were asked how the US can process more Venezuelan crude — and how the administration can make that easier, people familiar with the conversation said.
