From "talking" to "summoning": Trump to convene refiners and fuel retailers next week, escalating oil price intervention ahead of midterm elections.
With the November midterm elections approaching, the Trump administration's intervention in gasoline retail prices is escalating from social media pronouncements and Justice Department investigations to directly convening meetings with refiners and fuel retailers to pressure them to lower prices.
On August 27, Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that Trump is expected to formally convene a meeting with U.S. refiners and fuel retailers next week, with the main purpose of emphasizing the government’s efforts to lower gasoline prices in order to alleviate cost pressures on consumers caused by the conflict with Iran.
This is the most direct intervention by the White House in gasoline prices to date. Previously, Trump's pressure was only at an indirect level.
On June 24, the Department of Justice was instructed to investigate oil companies that did not lower prices in line with the decline in crude oil prices;On August 3, they called out companies like Chevron on social media, urging them to lower prices.
This time, by directly bringing together companies across the supply chain, the intervention measures have been further upgraded. Analysts believe this is to mitigate the impact of the Iranian conflict on consumers ahead of the November midterm elections, as the impact of high oil prices on voters' cost of living is becoming an unavoidable political pressure for the White House.
(US crude oil prices closed at a high of $83 on August 27)
From issuing statements to convening meetings: A three-stage leap in intervention methods
The Trump administration's approach to pressuring gasoline prices is clear.
On June 24, Trump posted on Truth Social, instructing the Department of Justice to "immediately begin an investigation" into oil companies that did not lower prices in line with the decline in crude oil prices, accusing them of "gouging" consumers.
On August 3, he again singled out Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth on social media, saying that he had "conveniently omitted" the contributions of government policies, and addressed the entire oil industry:
Lower the retail oil price for consumers, right now.
This formal meeting with refiners and fuel retailers signifies that the White House is no longer content with exerting pressure from afar, but is instead bringing downstream companies in the supply chain directly to the negotiating table.
Price Imbalance: Crude oil prices fell, but gasoline prices lagged behind.
The immediate trigger for Trump's continued pressure is the significant disconnect between crude oil prices and gasoline retail prices. When instructing the Justice Department to investigate, market data showed that international oil prices had fallen by approximately 27% over the past month, while the average retail price of regular gasoline across the United States had only fallen by about 13% during the same period.
This phenomenon of "skyrocketing prices and plummeting prices" is attributed to inventory lag, with refining and retail sectors needing to prepare for the next shock. However, for the White House, the prolonged failure of end-user prices to fall directly undermines its political narrative of "reducing the cost of living."
Gasoline prices have thus evolved from an economic issue into a political one that the White House must address. How refiners and fuel retailers will respond, and whether the meeting will lead to a substantial drop in retail oil prices, remains to be seen.
The key to judging the actual effect of this round of intervention lies in the specific timing of the meeting, the list of participating companies, and whether the White House will announce quantifiable price reduction targets.
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