A driver refuels a vehicle at a Wawa gas station in Media, Pa., on March 2. (Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg)
March 5, 2026 4:20 PM, EST
The Trump administration is weighing a range of options for addressing the spike in oil and gasoline prices amid the war in Iran, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.
“Everything is being considered, and I think there’s a series of ideas,” Burgum said March 5, adding that the list includes possible actions that would have immediate impact as well as longer-term and more complex options.
Trump already announced the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation would offer insurance at “a very reasonable price” as commercial firms retreat to help ensure the flow of energy and goods in the region. The president also said the U.S. Navy will begin escorting tankers through the strategic Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.
Trump huddled with Burgum, along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other top advisers to discuss a range of options March 3 before announcing the insurance and naval escort plans.
Other possibilities include releasing crude from the country’s emergency oil reserve — including a drawdown that could be coordinated with other nations to maximize effect. Administration officials have so far not moved to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Analysts and others in Washington have identified other options that could be considered by the administration, including waivers of fuel-blending requirements and even U.S. Treasury purchases of oil futures.
Details of the DFC insurance plan are still being developed, Burgum said. “The team is working hard,” he said, citing the involvement of Bessent and Wright.
“We have an opportunity as the federal government to come in and establish, I would say, some normalcy,” Burgum said. “The U.S. can take on some risk to help make sure that our allies in the world are well supplied, and we’re the only ones that could do that, because we’ve got the financial power and the naval power to make that happen.”
Burgum, who also leads President Donald Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, spoke to Bloomberg News as he concluded two days of meetings in Venezuela with the country’s interim government and oil and mining interests considering investments in the nation, following the U.S. capture of former President Nicolas Maduro in January.
The effort to lower oil prices, which have climbed about 18% since the U.S. and Israel began attacks on Iran, comes ahead of November midterm elections that could turn on cost-of-living concerns. Trump has prized gasoline prices that had slid under his watch — and are now threatened by the Mideast turmoil.
