← Videos · Energy & Permitting

Secretary Wright Defends the 172-Million-Barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve Release on Fox News

March 12, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:06:08

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Fox News host Dana Perino opened by noting the Energy Department was set to release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of an international effort to release 400 million barrels from emergency reserves to calm markets, lower prices and ease supply disruptions caused by the war in Iran, as the broadcast stated it. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the release helps fill the hole, but that the administration is trying to reverse 47 years of uncertainty from Iran’s terrorism in the region and its constant threat over energy; he said President Trump has boldly said enough is enough rather than kicking the can to the next president before Iran becomes nuclear-armed with a large missile barrage, and that the long-term gain of a better Middle East and more secure energy supply is worth the short-term disruption, as he stated it.

Asked what triggered the release after an initial period of saying it was not needed, Wright said that late the prior week Asian refineries in India, Korea, Japan and Thailand began talking about turning down throughput, and the administration wants to keep those refineries running to deliver jet fuel, diesel and the products that keep the Asian economy running — which, he said, is what the SPR is for, as he stated it. He said Japan would release three times its pro-rata share of the 400 million barrels to put oil quickly into Asian markets, according to his remarks.

On Iran’s military warning of $200-a-barrel oil, Wright said China is by far the world’s largest oil importer, so the economic pain is largest in China; most countries are significant net importers, while the United States produces more oil than it consumes and is a net exporter, as he stated it. He said President Trump is nonetheless concerned about every American consumer and rising prices through the short-term period, and that his agenda since inauguration has been to drive down energy prices and increase American power, according to his remarks.

Why it matters

The interview dates the administration’s SPR decision to a specific trigger Wright named — Asian refiners signaling run cuts — and records his case that the short-term market disruption is the price of ending what he called 47 years of Iranian threats over energy supplies.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins Fox News’ Dana Perino - March 12, 2026”, 2026-03-12 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-03-12). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.