GOP lawmaker stumped by live footage of oil surging after Trump speech
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) couldn't understand why the market futures were down on Thursday morning after President Donald Trump's big speech on Wednesday night.
CNN host John Berman welcomed Stutzman on the show just as oil prices zipped from $109 a barrel to $112.99.
"What do you think the oil market saw? What did investors see in this speech that has them so concerned and had prices go up more than 10 percent overnight?" Berman asked.
Stutzman was flummoxed.
"Yeah, John, great to be with you this morning. Honestly, I don't know because I felt that the speech gave a roadmap to what the president's thinking and that this is a, you know, this is moving very quickly. The success that we're having in knocking out the Iranian regime's ability to fight back or to go on offense has really been limited," the GOP lawmaker said.
"And so, you know, I don't know exactly what they're seeing this morning that makes them feel that way," continued Stutzman. "I guess once the Straits (sic) of Hormuz are more secure and are flowing more freely, that might be a piece of it."
He went on to say that the "oil space" is doing really well because the U.S. has access to a lot of oil. Given that it is a commodity, however, oil is traded on a global market, the NRDC explained. So, high prices elsewhere can drive up oil costs in the U.S.
"There's obviously —there's actually a lot of good news in the oil space," promised Stutzman. "There's leases up in Alaska that have been just let out. That really should be starting to affect the oil markets, and realizing that the supply is going to be there. And of course, with Venezuela in — in play, as well."
Trump miscalculated on Venezuela, assuming that oil companies would flock to the country to get access to plentiful fields. The reality, however, is that "big oil" corporations see Venezuela as " too expensive or risky," wrote Damian Tobin, lecturer in international business at University College Cork.
Exxon Mobil even went so far as to give an "unenthusiastic response, describing Venezuela as 'uninvestible," cited Tobin.
Still, Stutzman was stumped.
"So, I don't know, markets are sometimes funny things. We'll see what happens, even by this afternoon. But I think in the long run, here, we should start seeing prices going back down," he said.
Trump provided no real plan for opening the Strait of Hormuz, so Berman was curious how the congressman heard a different plan.
"Well, you know, again, President Trump is a great negotiator. And what he says in public is always what happens in the long run, because he's trying to bring people to the table," the Republican claimed.
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