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Secretary Chris Wright Predicts Falling Fuel Prices and Touts Small Reactors on Fox Business

July 2, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:11:44

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

What happened

Fox Business opened with oil prices down that morning — crude at $67.27, down about 2% — and the national average gasoline price at $3.83 a gallon, down from $4.29 a month earlier, as Americans set out for the July 4th holiday weekend marking America’s 250th anniversary. The program also noted the United States and Iran had concluded a round of productive peace talks in Doha the day before without a clear agreement, as the broadcast reported.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices would continue to fall: the U.S. military — not any peaceful Iranian moves, he said — had oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. production was at record levels, and Venezuelan production was rising rapidly, so supply was increasing and pushing prices down, first oil and then gasoline. He said gasoline in his home city of Denver was selling at $2.99 at stations across the city the previous weekend, according to Wright.

Asked to assess America’s energy capability, Wright said American optimism, ingenuity, and belief in a bright future were flourishing again after four years of what he described as doom promotion and celebrating the closure of coal and gas plants. He said the department’s third small modular reactor had entered operation the day before, with a fourth possibly operating before July 4th, as he stated it.

Why it matters

Wright’s July 2 appearance ties the administration’s price story — Hormuz flows, record production, Venezuelan supply — to its nuclear build-out, making both the near-term and long-term halves of its energy case in one interview.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: Wright’s prediction on July 2, 2026 that fuel prices would continue to fall, and his statement that a third small modular reactor had entered operation with a fourth possibly by July 4th, are dated, checkable claims flagged for the scoreboard editor.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo - July 2, 2026”, 2026-07-02 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-07-02). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.