Energy Secretary Dodges as Gas Hits Record $4.14

Bash did not let the non-answer stand. "Respectfully, as the energy secretary, shouldn't you have an opinion on where gas prices are and where they're going?" she asked, after noting that the Iran war, the Russia-Ukraine war and dwindling U.S. reserves could all push prices higher.

Wright pointed to the futures market, which he said prices gasoline more than 30 cents a gallon lower two months out, and said the administration has loosened blending requirements so refiners can make more gasoline. He blamed states that have not adopted the new standards: "New York, Connecticut, California and several other Democrat-governed states have decided not to adopt those standards. They apparently want to keep driving up prices on their residents."

On diesel, Wright named Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries as the biggest single factor, said Russia has banned diesel exports and China has throttled its own, and faulted refinery closures under the Biden administration and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. "Democratic policies for the last 15 years to crimp the production of hydrocarbons in the United States is certainly taking a toll," he said. "But we're rowing in the other direction."

Wright also said the administration is working to expand oil production in Venezuela, claiming production there is up 25% and exports up 50%. Bash pushed back that the Venezuela deal "doesn't sound like that's going to make production up and running for like 10 years or so." Wright's answer: "We have lots of actions to push in the other direction, so we'll see."