Trump Says No Need to Tap Strategic Oil Reserve at This Point

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said the U.S. doesn’t need to tap into its strategic petroleum reserve at this point but is prepared to do so if necessary to stabilize prices.

“I don’t think we need to. Oil has not gone up very much,” Trump told reporters Tuesday aboard Air Force One as he traveled to California for a series of fundraisers. “There’s a lot of oil in the world.”

Trump has said he may tap into the reserve after weekend attacks on two Saudi Arabian oil facilities that caused the country’s daily production to halve and prices to jump. The president added Tuesday that his administration will also speed approval of pipelines to aid American oil production.

“We can expedite it very substantially,” Trump said.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.