During a visit to Long Beach, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright revealed when Americans could expect to see lower gas prices.
During Long Beach visit, energy secretary says lower gas prices are comingThursday, April 9, 2026 3:54AMU.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited Southern California Wednesday a day after President Donald Trump announced aNews of the deal prompted oil prices to drop.
"You'll likely see some downturning gasoline prices in the next few weeks," Wright told reporters. "There's a lag from crude prices that then get purchased and go into refineries and produce gasoline.""I am aware of those and of course they are concerning," Wright said. "We don't want to see any energy infrastructure or civilian infrastructure at all attacked. I think it's probably more a statement on the state of leadership in Iran today, which is in significant disarray. "So the hope is it's just delay in communications and getting the message out of where we are. Hopefully we'll see those attacks stop in the very near future." Wright was in Long Beach and Seal Beach visiting oil operations at Synergy Oil and Gas, urging California leaders to change its regulations to allow for refiners to produce more. "Early regulations on air pollution, ton of sense. Wealthy societies, you can make your air cleaner and cleaner. There's just California and other states now that just go beyond that. It's beyond you're gonna meaningfully impact air quality. It's just about strangling an industry," Wright said. Synergy's CEO noted the state's oil industry is declining and he is limited in his own operations. He has 35 employees."We do here about 100 barrels a day, and we should be doing about 6,000 barrels a day based on our tank sizes in the back," said John McKeown, CEO of Synergy Oil and Gas. Wright's visit comes on the heels of controversially restarting offshore drilling near the Santa Barbara coastline. As the Iran conflict caused gas prices to soar, the Trump administration invoked emergency powers to reopen the platforms. Wright defended the decision, saying the state's oil production will grow by about 20% because of it. Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued Wright in an effort to stop the operations in Goleta. Wright is pushing California to tap into its own energy resources for oil production, rather than import it. "California has an abundance of energy resources of all kinds. But it has made destructive political choices to drive up energy prices and reduce its energy security," Wright said. Wright said he plans to meet with Gov. Gavin Newsom in the coming weeks to discuss energy prices and production.
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