On Wednesday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” White House Senior Adviser for Energy and Investment Amos Hochstein responded to a question on whether the U.S. can make up energy shortfalls if there is one from the Middle East by stating that there isn’t a shortfall and we won’t see a disruption in supply.
Co-host Kailey Leinz asked, “[W]e have seen, in the years of the pandemic, a real shortfall of energy can very quickly lead to seriously higher oil prices. And there were a lot of calls from this administration during the pandemic for OPEC to be pumping more, there was, of course, the tapping of the SPR. Is the U.S. prepared to make up the shortfalls should we actually see a shortfall coming from the Middle East? Because, of course, it’s not just the Red Sea we have to think about, but the Strait of Hormuz as well?”
Hochstein responded, “First, I want to make sure that our viewers know that there is no shortfall in energy products. There [are] no attacks on energy infrastructure at the moment. We are always looking at multiple scenarios that could affect the markets and energy infrastructure in particular because of the importance that they play in the global economy. But, at the moment, the risk is not to the infrastructure or to the availability of supply, but rather to the route which the supply will take in order to get to market and the extra cost that could be associated with that route. So, I think that we feel comfortable that we’re not going to see a disruption. But rather — but we are very concerned about the attacks on the ships that would affect maritime freedom of navigation and maritime ability to get around the world for cargo that is so important. And again, I want to stress this is not just an American thing — concern. This is a global concern. This affects Asia and Europe, as much as it does any other part of the world, as they rely on these waterways. And that’s why it’s important that this is now a coalition and our call to Iran and to everyone else is for the Houthis to really cease from this very dangerous kind of activity of attacks in the region.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.