Transcript: Energy Secretary Chris Wright on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Oct. 4, 2026
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Updated on: October 4, 2026 / 1:48 PM EDT / CBS News
The following is the transcript of the interview with Energy Secretary Chris Wright that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Oct. 4, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation. We begin with one of the Trump administration officials tasked with working to lower those high gas and oil prices, Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Good morning to you.
SECRETARY OF ENERGY CHRIS WRIGHT: Good morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, it's good to have you here. You said this past week that Americans can expect lower gasoline prices and diesel prices by election day. The Wall Street Journal editorial board has a piece outlining that the campaign to squeeze around financially is working, but they can still knock out significant Gulf energy infrastructure. They could be planning an October surprise before the U.S. midterms. We are still seeing Iranian attacks on ships now. I mean, how can you be so confident prices are headed down?
SEC. WRIGHT: Well, because we've got increasing supplies coming out of the Strait of Hormuz and they've continued to rise over the last months, over the last recent weeks. We've got U.S. gasoline production today at record high. We have demand for gasoline, as we come out of the summer driving scene, starting to go down. Similar stories with diesel. Diesel's mostly been infected by the Russia-Ukraine war and also by China's decision not to export diesel or gasoline into the marketplace. And of course, we're living with two refineries that were recently closed, large refineries in California that Gavin Newsom forced the closure of. And frankly, 15 years of Democrat policies that have been energy subtraction, trying to close coal plants, close refineries, and shrink our capacity. Which means when you get in crisis, we're just less resilient than we should be.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you still think that in the next four weeks prices are going to go down?
SEC. WRIGHT: Absolutely. Diesel prices have been going down. Gasoline prices have been going down. I expect that to continue.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to talk about diesel in a minute, but I- I was reading that the U.S. was sending more defensive equipment to the Gulf countries to protect their oil infrastructure. I see there was a gathering of national security advisers at Camp David on Friday to talk about Iran and the conflict in Yemen. Can you share any outcome from that? I mean, is- is the U.S. about to escalate? We did just see a third carrier strike group get sent to the region.
SEC. WRIGHT: Look, the president has- has taken a strong stand that Iran, the world's greatest terrorist regime- regime, cannot and will not have nuclear weapons. So, of course, we're looking at every avenue to achieve that goal economically, to be prepared for what comes militarily. But we cannot pass to the next administration an Iran armed with nuclear weapons. Not only is that a threat to peace and stability--
SEC. WRIGHT: --that's a massive long-term threat to energy prices.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, but he's also said that they're not seeking a nuclear weapon. He said that just the other day that they might have actually already stopped. But in the immediate sense of threats to our neighbors who have refinery and production capacity, how do you guarantee that there is no October surprise that sends those prices going the opposite direction?
SEC. WRIGHT: Hey, well, there's no guarantees. There's no guarantees in conflict. There's no guarantees in life. But everything we're doing is to grow the supply of diesel, to grow the supply of gasoline, and frankly, again, to reverse years of policies that have been directed exactly the opposite, to shrink our ability to produce, refine, and deliver hydrocarbons.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Can you say whether the president has decided he will escalate post-election day? That's when that third carrier strike group will be arriving, mid-November.
SEC. WRIGHT: Oh, I'm definitely not going to get in front of presidents' plans or policies. But remember--
MARGARET BRENNAN: He'd thrown that out there himself.
SEC. WRIGHT: He's- he's always planning for contingencies and he's always negotiating. How you communicate, what you- what you lean in on, it sends a message to the other side. He's been a master, a master at doing that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So he's got both tracks still going, diplomatic and military pressure?
SEC. WRIGHT: Of course, of course. At all times.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, you talked about diesel. The world's wealthiest countries, the G7, this past week agreed to release 100 million barrels of fuel over four months. They're going to front load it with a lot of diesel in the next 20 days. I know you asked our friends and allies to consider doing this. How significant a price impact and for how long?
SEC. WRIGHT: It's a big deal. It's a big deal. Europe has very large diesel stores. They, you know, they don't refine enough diesel to supply their own economies, so naturally they store a lot of diesel. They're very keen to see American diesel continue to flow to Europe. They've got a lot of diesel in stores. Why not release some of that? This is what you store diesel for. When all the Russian exports of diesel are shut down, when the Chinese have said we're not going to deliver any more diesel, and you still have a reduction of diesel flows coming out of the Gulf, but we're restoring those, but that takes time. This is just common sense. This lowers diesel prices, not just in the United States, but it lowers them in Europe and around the world. But it will drive diesel prices down as those releases come. It'll drive diesel down through the winter in the United States and around the world. And- and by then we'll be in another place. We'll have more refining capacity online. I- I suspect we'll continue to see diesel decline as we go into next spring as well.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So below six bucks?…
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