Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that core inflation, food prices, prescription-drug costs and rents were moving lower. His assessment contrasts with Chevron CEO Mike Wirth’s warning that energy prices could face further pressure in the coming months.
Wirth said oil-market buffers that had limited crude-price increases after the Iran war began in late February had been exhausted. Countries had released crude stockpiles, while the United States had eased restrictions on sanctioned oil stored on ships, but Wirth said those measures had now been used up.
11, Wirth said it was difficult to envision oil prices softening quickly and that the risks remained to the upside. Diesel price had reached $6 per gallon, while the Iran war and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries were squeezing supplies.
Wirth also said Chevron had seen fewer effects on its Kazakhstan operations after the Trump administration spoke with Ukraine about attacks on Russian oil infrastructure in the Black Sea. Chevron operates the Tengiz oilfield and holds a stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which exports oil from Tengiz to the Black Sea.
Chevron plans to finance a $7 billion Venezuelan expansion with cash from its three existing joint ventures there. New terms with Venezuela cover two additional oil areas and are intended to more than double production to about 600,000 barrels per day by 2031.