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Wright on CNBC: Iran Campaign Going Well, Oil Price Scenarios and Hormuz Control, Mar. 23, 2026

March 23, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:11:20

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

What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan that the military campaign’s first three weeks, under President Trump’s leadership and General Caine’s, had rapidly eliminated Iran’s ability to project power to its neighbors, according to Wright. He said the conflict is critical to remove what he called the greatest threat to peace in the Middle East, and that the campaign is going well, according to the interview.

Wright said Trump sets a bold objective but is always open to negotiations if there is a simpler way to the same end, according to the interview. Asked who in Iran the U.S. could negotiate with, Wright acknowledged turnover in Iran’s energy leadership and said the dialogues would reveal who is in power and what authority they hold, according to his remarks.

On prices, Wright said oil had already fallen and that scenarios such as $175 oil — which an airline CEO had raised as a planning case — are highly unlikely, though he called such planning prudent for a business leader, according to the interview. He said Saudi Arabia had prepositioned almost 100 million barrels of oil storage outside the Middle East before the conflict, which he valued as roughly an extra week against an interruption he put at as much as 15 million barrels a day, according to Wright. Asked about a possible joint U.S.–Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz, Wright said negotiations were early and he would not get ahead of the president, but that Iran controlling the strait is an unacceptable outcome and free shipping flow must be assured, according to the interview.

Why it matters

The interview records the energy secretary’s public read of the Iran campaign’s progress and his oil-price expectations at the three-week mark, including the figures he chose to state.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins Brian Sullivan on CNBC - March 23, 2026”, 2026-03-23 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-03-23). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.