Trump administration says fear, not shortages, is driving up oil prices
Image: Axios

Trump administration says fear, not shortages, is driving up oil prices

09 March, 2026.Finance.1 sources

Oil market, maritime risks

The text reports threat-level commentary from the Joint Maritime Information Center, but that sentence is truncated in the provided excerpt.

Wright said a "large tanker" recently passed through the waterway and that historical traffic averages are "upward of 130", but the time period for that figure is not specified in the provided text.

Wright told CNN's "State of the Union" the U.S. is "targeting zero energy infrastructure," but the following part of that sentence is truncated in the article copy provided.

Axios closes by noting this dynamic is unfolding in a critical midterm year when voters' price-of-living concerns are paramount.

Because the excerpt truncates several attributions and timeframes, key details and context remain uncertain and are not independently verifiable from the provided text.

Key Takeaways

  • Trump's energy chief blames recent oil price spike on market fear, not supply shortages.
  • Trump administration attributes rising oil prices to market sentiment, not physical shortages.
  • Axios published the story by Avery Lotz in its Politics and Policy section.