The world's shrinking spare capacity to produce gasoline and diesel is running up against the White House's desire to temper the rise in pump prices ahead of the midterms.
The chief executives of Exxon Mobil and Chevron warned Friday that refineries that produce gasoline and diesel are already running at full tilt and can't be turned up much more to make up for global shortages due to the war in Iran and other geopolitical hotspots. That could mean higher prices for consumers at the pump in the coming months, they said.
Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said the company would "push as hard as we can" to increase fuel production given that higher energy prices have a "significant impact on consumers and people's pocketbooks."
"With all that supply out, we're well below available capacity, frankly, that I've ever seen," he said on the company's earnings call. "It's going to take a while for the industry to kind of climb its way out of that hole."
Their remarks come as the Trump administration is racing to blunt the impact of elevated gasoline prices with three months until Americans go to the polls. The American Automobile ***** ociation reported nationwide pump prices were averaging $4.10 per gallon — nearly a dollar more than the same period last year. Refineries in the United States, meanwhile, operated at roughly 97 percent of their operable capacity this month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said this week, while Shell reported Friday that it was running its refineries at record rates actually above their official capacities during the second quarter.
#pump
The chief executives of Exxon Mobil and Chevron warned Friday that refineries that produce gasoline and diesel are already running at full tilt and can't be turned up much more to make up for global shortages due to the war in Iran and other geopolitical hotspots. That could mean higher prices for consumers at the pump in the coming months, they said.
Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said the company would "push as hard as we can" to increase fuel production given that higher energy prices have a "significant impact on consumers and people's pocketbooks."
"With all that supply out, we're well below available capacity, frankly, that I've ever seen," he said on the company's earnings call. "It's going to take a while for the industry to kind of climb its way out of that hole."
Their remarks come as the Trump administration is racing to blunt the impact of elevated gasoline prices with three months until Americans go to the polls. The American Automobile ***** ociation reported nationwide pump prices were averaging $4.10 per gallon — nearly a dollar more than the same period last year. Refineries in the United States, meanwhile, operated at roughly 97 percent of their operable capacity this month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said this week, while Shell reported Friday that it was running its refineries at record rates actually above their official capacities during the second quarter.
#pump
15 hours ago
