Bloomberg Talks
00:00:02 · S0, S1, Chris Wright, S3
[00:00:02] S0: Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. [00:00:05] S1: Radio. [00:00:06] S2: News. [00:00:07] S1: But it's oil that's in our view today. $ 116 a barrel for Brent. Triple digits for WTI above $ 102 a barrel today. That's partly why interest rates are rising. And it was the foundation of our conversation earlier today with the Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, who we caught up with at the Wisconsin Power and Light Plant in Beloit, Wisconsin, just above the Illinois border, talking about the DOE's more than $ 5 billion loan to Alliant that he was announcing today to try to strengthen grid reliability in Wisconsin and in Iowa. This follows his announcement with Constellation Energy yesterday, which was another $ 5 billion deal. And I started by asking him at what point, the timeline here, energy will in fact be surging into these states. [00:00:53] S2: Yeah, of course, this is capital infrastructure that's being built. [00:00:56] S0: So, you know, it'll take one, two, three years for this work. [00:01:00] S2: To get done. But this is exactly what's needed. You've got to grow the available electricity and you've got to make it robust and reliable in the freezing cold of winter and the summer heats peaks in the summertime. [00:01:14] S3: Yeah, understood.
00:01:14 · S3, S1, Chris Wright, S0
[00:01:14] S3: Yeah, understood. [00:01:15] S1: I was reading your announcement on this. The subsidies here that we're talking about and that you're announcing today follow on the president strengthening the reliability and security of the electric grid, which we've talked about before here on Bloomberg. That EO was signed in April of 2025. So more than a year ago, yet this is being announced essentially on the eve of the midterm elections. why not do this at the start of the energy crisis at the beginning of the Iran war? [00:01:45] S2: We've been working every day since I was sworn into the administration to deploy capital from the Energy Dominance Financing Office. [00:01:54] S0: It's our loan office. [00:01:55] S2: We're underwriting all kinds of loans that are low risk so that taxpayers will get their money back, but that deliver cost advantages for energy across our country in all different sectors. This is utility sector, as you mentioned, but this is about math and humans. It'll lower the price spikes that come when it gets very cold in the winter or very hot in the summertime. [00:02:20] S0: It's a radical. [00:02:21] S2: Change from the DOE under the previous Democratic administration, where it was all about greenhouse gases and they didn't even evaluate impacts on affordability. So we'll go all four years deploying capital that are going to deliver reliable, affordable energy for Americans to lower their costs and increase their job opportunities. [00:02:41] S3: I see. We're looking at higher prices for crude again today, Mr. Secretary.
00:02:41 · S3, S1, Chris Wright, S0
[00:02:41] S3: I see. We're looking at higher prices for crude again today, Mr. Secretary. [00:02:45] S1: As you well know, we've got WTI above $ 102 and Brent approaching $ 116 a. [00:02:51] S3: Barrel here. And there's an expectation, at least in the market. [00:02:54] S1: That we'll be back to some level of kinetic activity in Iran or with Iran following the midterm elections. When you consider everything that's happened since the outset of this war, and recalling the Secretary of Defense in the second day of the operation saying, we have a plan for the strait. Was it the planning of the war or the management of the fallout by the energy department that left us with such high prices for so long? [00:03:19] S2: Well, look, to go into a major energy producing region of the world that the Middle East is and initiate kinetic conflict, of course, that's going to have an impact on energy supplies. But a nuclear armed Iran would have enormous consequences, not just for long term energy prices, but for peace and stability in the region. President Trump was simply not willing to hand his successor a nuclear armed Iran. I'm proud of his courage in doing that. But our energy policies every day are about addition of energy, about mitigating impacts from events like this, where the Democrats for 17 years have been about energy subtraction, closing coal plants, closing refineries, preventing the movement of energy around the world. So this is a short-term interruption in affordable energy, but it's for. [00:04:08] S0: A strategic reason.
00:04:08 · S0, Chris Wright, S1, S3
[00:04:08] S0: A strategic reason. [00:04:10] S2: It's a structural problem with energy prices with Democrat energy subtraction policies. [00:04:16] S0: They're very different. [00:04:17] S1: Well, it's been a while since we've had Democrats in the White House, but I'm curious if you expect crude to retest highs if strikes resume in Iran. [00:04:24] S3: Should the market brace for that? [00:04:27] S2: I don't know what will come in the future, but I'll tell you, the United States military has done a tremendous job in keeping oil flowing out of that region despite the conflict. The high prices we see today are really about a shortage of refining around the planet, and we're doing a lot to expand refining capacity in the United States and to work with friends and allies abroad to increase the flow. [00:04:50] S0: Of refined products. [00:04:52] S3: You mentioned flows through the Strait. Mr. [00:04:54] S1: Secretary, it's been remarkable to see flows, at least on some days, return to pre-war levels. How much is the United States spending on a daily basis, on a nightly basis, for safe passage through the Strait?
00:04:54 · S1, Chris Wright, S3
[00:04:54] S1: Secretary, it's been remarkable to see flows, at least on some days, return to pre-war levels. How much is the United States spending on a daily basis, on a nightly basis, for safe passage through the Strait? [00:05:09] S2: Look, I don't have specific numbers on that, but we've got large military forces deployed in the region. We're using forces that were already there in the region to escort those convoys out in the evening time. But there's no doubt that removing Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon, that comes at a cost. It's come at an economic cost. It's come at the cost of 18 brave American soldiers that have lost their lives in this conflict. But I think these costs are still modest when you compare what would this regime in Iran armed with nuclear weapons, what havoc would that bring? [00:05:46] S1: Well, it's been a boon for our oil companies. Of course, the president of the United States himself said that the U.S. is, quote, making a freaking fortune, unquote. We're seeing Exxon Chevron trading near all-time highs. The XLE, it's incredible. It just keeps rising, Mr. Secretary. The president said when he dropped that line, and he got some laughs when he said it, but his advisors told him not to say that in public. [00:06:09] S3: Were you one of them?
00:06:09 · S3, Chris Wright, S1
[00:06:09] S3: Were you one of them? [00:06:11] S2: No, I did not speak with the president about that. But this is a guy who's worked his whole career to grow American energy production, to reduce energy prices. And look, it's the profit system, capitalism, that's what grows energy production, not top-down government control of things. But of course, the goal of energy policy is to have low-cost, affordable energy. 100% of Americans consume oil and gas. Only about 1% of Americans work in the production of them. Mm-hmm. [00:06:42] S3: Understood. [00:06:42] S1: You know, the president was talking about solar last night, and I recall conversations we had, Secretary, at the outset of the administration, and it was an all-of-the-above approach, along with drill, baby, drill. But I think you embraced an all-of-the-above approach for the most part. I know the president is done with wind. He's essentially called for the death of that industry. But last night, when it comes to solar, he said the solar panels kill all the animals. [00:07:07] S3: Quote, the animals jump on them and they fry. [00:07:11] S1: If you look at shares of Enphase or First Solar, they've been left for dead, Mr. [00:07:16] S3: Secretary. [00:07:17] S1: Has the administration succeeded in killing both of these industries?