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Trump to meet with top oil CEOs in closed-door meeting

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Industry concerned about falling oil prices, looming trade

wars

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Meeting will mark Trump's first sit-down with oil and gas

leaders since return to White House

By Jarrett Renshaw

March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will

host top oil executives at the White House on Wednesday as he

charts plans to boost domestic energy production in the midst of

falling crude prices and looming trade wars.

The meeting will mark Trump's first sit-down with oil and gas

leaders since returning to the White House for a second term as

president in January.

It will include members of the American Petroleum

Institute's (API) executive committee, according to one source

familiar with the planning of the closed-door event.

ExxonMobil ( XOM ) CEO Darren Woods, Chevron ( CVX ) CEO Mike

Wirth, ConocoPhillips ( COP ) CEO Ryan Lance, Phillips 66

CEO Mark Lashier and Marathon Petroleum ( MPC ) CEO

Maryann Mannen are among the leaders on the trade group's

executive committee, according to public biographies.

The meeting will be part "victory lap" for Trump's early support

of the industry, the source said, but executives are also

expected to express concerns over Trump's trade wars and

emphasize the need for higher oil prices to help meet the

president's promise to grow domestic production.

Trump and his allies came into office vowing to boost

already record U.S. oil production by as much as 3 million

barrels per day and cut energy prices for inflation-stricken

Americans, in part by rolling back environmental regulations and

speeding permitting.

"The best way to maintain oil production and energy

independence is to support a higher oil price," said Ed Hirs, an

energy economist at the University of Houston. "Drill-baby-drill

is not the way forward. And so I think they're going to try and

make that point to him tactfully."

Analysts at energy analytics firm Wood Mackenzie projected

benchmark Brent oil prices would average $73 per barrel

in 2025, down $7 per barrel from 2024 due to U.S. tariff

policies and OPEC+ plans to boost output.

Asked to comment on the meeting, API spokesperson Bethany

Williams reiterated previous comments that the trade group

appreciated the opportunity to discuss how the industry is

driving economic growth and strengthening national security.

The White House did not respond to request for comment.

Trump is pursuing a trade war with allies Mexico and Canada

that the API has publicly opposed, in part because the two U.S.

neighbors are its top sources of imported crude oil.

Trump already imposed tariffs on imported crude from Canada and

Mexico but issued exemptions for producers who can prove they

comply with the trade agreement between the three countries, the

United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Last month, in response to the tariffs, API CEO Mike Sommers

said, "Energy markets are highly integrated, and free and fair

trade across our borders is critical for delivering affordable,

reliable energy to U.S. consumers."

API has publicly released a five-point energy plan for Trump

and Congress to follow that includes permit reform, boosting

offshore oil leasing, protecting tax credits for carbon capture

and hydrogen production and rolling back subsidies for electric

vehicles.