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Wright on CNBC at Golden Pass LNG: China Energy Trade and Oil Markets

May 15, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:13:12

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

What happened

CNBC’s Squawk Box interviewed Energy Secretary Chris Wright at Golden Pass, the ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy LNG facility in Port Arthur, Texas, which the program said had shipped its first LNG cargo a couple of weeks earlier. Wright called such facilities fantastic for America, noting a couple thousand employees building out the export trains.

Asked about reports that China had agreed to buy U.S. crude — which Beijing had not confirmed — Wright noted that China is now the world’s largest importer of oil and natural gas, as the United States was 20 years ago, and said there is a natural energy trade between the two countries. He said he suspects, and believes, China will become a larger buyer of U.S. crude oil, and pointed to strong Asian interest in Alaskan oil as well.

On why oil prices had not spiked to the $150–$200 levels some predicted despite disruption around Hormuz, Wright credited President Trump’s energy dominance agenda, saying the world knows the United States is all-in on growing supply of crude oil and refined products. He framed the temporary interruption as the cost of ending Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon, which he said would threaten global energy markets for decades.

Why it matters

The interview ties three administration energy themes together — LNG export buildout on the Gulf Coast, Alaska oil for Asian buyers, and using U.S. supply growth to blunt price shocks from the Iran conflict.

Scoreboard watch

Wright said he expects China to become a larger buyer of U.S. crude oil and more Alaskan oil to flow to Asia; both are checkable against subsequent export data.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins CNBC’s Squawk Box - May 15, 2026”, 2026-05-15 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-05-15). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.