Trump to send Energy Secretary Wright on two-week trip to Gulf
Wright will spend time with top government and corporate leaders in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, setting the stage for Trump’s visit in May
RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory campus last week
With petroleum prices plunging and a global trade war on the horizon, the White House is sending U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright to spend quality time with top oil producers in the Middle East.
Wright, the founder of Denver, Colorado fracking company Liberty Energy before joining President Donald Trump’s Cabinet this year, will visit the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar during his two-week sojourn starting on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Scheduled to meet the Gulf’s top government and corporate leaders, Wright will set the stage for Trump’s visit to the region, which is expected to take place in mid-May.
The extended visit comes as oil prices have hit a four-year low following the OPEC+ decision to lift restrictions on production that have kept prices high for the past two years.
Wright will seek to ensure an abundant global supply of oil beyond countries where the United States has sanctions on oil exports including Iran, Venezuela and Russia, Reuters reports.
Discussions will also focus on investments by the three countries in the U.S. after the UAE last month committed to spend $1.4 trillion in the No. 1 superpower over the next 10 years.
Trump asked Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in January to boost his planned U.S. investment package to $1 trillion from an initial $600 billion.