Trump: ‘Maybe’ we’ll cut domestic oil production

President Trump said Monday that the U.S. may consider cutting domestic oil production if it would help to solve international production disputes that have led to a steep decline in prices. 

Reuters has reported that countries including Saudi Arabia and Russia, which have been engaged in a high-profile trade dispute, would probably agree to lessen their oil production if the U.S. joined them. 

Asked whether he would ask U.S. producers to do so, Trump told reporters, “Maybe we will, maybe we won’t, but we’ll have to make that decision.”

He said that he thought production cuts would happen due to market forces and that he had not yet been asked to cut U.S. production.

“I think it’s happening automatically, but nobody’s asked me that question yet,” he said. 

Russia and the OPEC, which includes Saudi Arabia, are expected to meet Thursday amid an oil production standoff that has led to an increased supply in the global market amid decreased demand. 

Trump’s comment Monday marks a shift from his previous rhetoric surrounding the possibility of cuts to oil production. 

Asked last week whether the U.S. would be willing to cut oil production, Trump said: “These are great companies and they’ll figure it out. It’s [a] free market. We’ll figure it out.”

The president over the weekend also floated placing tariffs on oil imports. 

Last week, he had suggested that in light of talks between Russia and Saudi Arabia, international oil production could drop by 10 million or 15 million barrels. Moscow, however, denied that such discussions had occurred.