WEBVTT - US Energy  Secretary Chris Wright Talks Iran, Oil, Nuclear Power

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>Joining us now to discuss the state of energy, not

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<v Speaker 2>just domestically but worldwide. These seventeenth United States Secretary of Energy,

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<v Speaker 2>Chris Right, Miss the Secretary, welcome back to the program Sir,

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<v Speaker 2>looking forward to an in depth conversation with you about

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<v Speaker 2>what you cover every single day. So, first of all,

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<v Speaker 2>just on a run so we can deal with that.

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<v Speaker 2>What is the current stance of the US officially on

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<v Speaker 2>the use and import of Irunnian crude?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, the sanctions are still in place. No change there,

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<v Speaker 1>I think the Trump where President Trump was referring to

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<v Speaker 1>there as, Hey, if we make a large piece and

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<v Speaker 1>sanctions come off, irog can flourish.

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<v Speaker 2>If you've got a decent understanding that, mister Secretary of

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<v Speaker 2>just how much of running and cruit is being consumed

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<v Speaker 2>and important already as things stand, despite the sanctions.

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<v Speaker 1>We do so a rare producer is about three and

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<v Speaker 1>a half million barrels a day, and they've been import

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<v Speaker 1>they've been exporting about one and a half million barrel

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<v Speaker 1>of oil a day. And the maximum pressure campaign that

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<v Speaker 1>President Trump did in his last term tamp that down

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<v Speaker 1>to only one hundred or two hundred thousand barls a day,

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<v Speaker 1>they cut off ninety percent of it. That was a

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<v Speaker 1>possible strategy here as well, but hadn't been implemented yet.

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<v Speaker 1>We tried to give negotiations a chance see if we

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<v Speaker 1>can do it without maximum pressure.

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<v Speaker 3>So is maximum pressure still on the table or is

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<v Speaker 3>the ministration walking away from that?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, the goal right now, of course, is to get

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<v Speaker 1>a peace deal, is to get peace into the Middle

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<v Speaker 1>East and spread the focus on commerce, not conflict. So no,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not actively being discussed right now, but the situation

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<v Speaker 1>is still dynamic there. We want to see peace, prosperity

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<v Speaker 1>and security as the future of the Middle East.

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<v Speaker 3>When it comes to what's going on in Iran as well,

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<v Speaker 3>in terms of the IAEA, the Foreign Minister said yesterday

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<v Speaker 3>that basically they have no plans to having the Director

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<v Speaker 3>General Raphael Grossy in Iran and doesn't sound like they're

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<v Speaker 3>willing to give the inspectors the space, time and access

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<v Speaker 3>they need to look at these nuclear facilities. What is

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<v Speaker 3>the United States response to that?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, look, this is early on. This is early on.

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<v Speaker 1>Iran has just had most of its nuclear program entirely

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<v Speaker 1>devastated by Israel and the United states. They're a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit humbled, they're a little bit shell shocked right now.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, I wouldn't put too much weight on those words.

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<v Speaker 1>But a final peace steal certainly has to have confidence

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<v Speaker 1>in a dismantlement of the Iranian nuclear program and that

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<v Speaker 1>people can have security it won't be resurrected in the future.

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<v Speaker 3>You deal with a lot of nuclear at the Energy

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<v Speaker 3>Department before the US strikes, but after the Israeli strikes,

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<v Speaker 3>Raphael Grossi told us that the IAEA cannot verify with

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<v Speaker 3>the four hundred kilograms of sixty percent enrich uranium in

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<v Speaker 3>Isfahan was currently where it was? Was it still there?

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<v Speaker 3>Do the irradiance take it out? Doesn't the IAEA need

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<v Speaker 3>to go in and verify where this enrich uranium is?

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's quite likely part of a future negotiation,

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<v Speaker 1>in our future deal.

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<v Speaker 2>Miss the Secretary. Of course, this is just one part

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<v Speaker 2>of the convers sanction and energy right now. I can

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<v Speaker 2>tell you earlier on this morning, there's a report that

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<v Speaker 2>you might have scene that came from Rouyts. Essentially, the

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<v Speaker 2>administration is readying a package of executive actions aimed at

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<v Speaker 2>boosting energy supplying to PAWA. The US expansion of ARNTS

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<v Speaker 2>official energy Mister Secretary, what can you share with this

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<v Speaker 2>this morning.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Look, artificial intelligence is an incredibly exciting development that's coming.

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<v Speaker 1>It is going to revolutionize not just our economy but

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<v Speaker 1>our health drug discovery, but it also plays a huge

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<v Speaker 1>role in national defense, which is why I've compared it

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<v Speaker 1>to the Manhattan Project. It's critical, It'll be transformative and

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<v Speaker 1>we must lead. We cannot be second place in AI.

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<v Speaker 1>And to do that, we have the scientists, we have

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<v Speaker 1>the capital. You have to have a huge growth in

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<v Speaker 1>US electricity production. So we need to get the morass

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<v Speaker 1>in the way that's really hobbled the American energy system

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<v Speaker 1>for the last four years, and we got to unleash

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<v Speaker 1>American investment in American capitalism. That's going to take building

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of new generation.

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<v Speaker 4>Mister Secretary, to build on that idea. What type of

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<v Speaker 4>energy production are you looking at? I know that New

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<v Speaker 4>York State was just looking at potentially creating a new

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<v Speaker 4>nuclear energy plan. Is that one of the paths of

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<v Speaker 4>travel that you think is going to be pivotal for

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<v Speaker 4>the United States?

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, look to have a secure power glid into power AI.

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<v Speaker 1>You need ninety nine point nine percent of the time

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<v Speaker 1>on power, and so that today our biggest source of

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<v Speaker 1>reliable power today by far as natural gas. Our second

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<v Speaker 1>biggest source is nuclear, and our third biggest source right

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<v Speaker 1>behind that is coal. So those are the three keys

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<v Speaker 1>to the future of our electricity grid. Nuclear we haven't

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<v Speaker 1>built much for a while, so I was thrilled to

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<v Speaker 1>see the governor's announcement embracing nuclear in New York. We

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<v Speaker 1>have the governors of Tennessee and Georgia and Virginia passionate

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<v Speaker 1>about getting new nuclear built in their states. So yes,

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<v Speaker 1>one of our goals in this administration is is to

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<v Speaker 1>launch the American nuclear renaissance.

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<v Speaker 4>Mister Secretary, how do you encourage this type of investment

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<v Speaker 4>at a time where the goal of the President has

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<v Speaker 4>also been to lower prices? And we've seen this particularly

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<v Speaker 4>in the energy space, for the President has been very

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<v Speaker 4>vocal about the desire to see energy prices lower, and

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<v Speaker 4>this has led to a number of oil rigs in

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<v Speaker 4>the Shelle patch to be taken offline because it isn't

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<v Speaker 4>profitable for a lot of these companies to be producing

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<v Speaker 4>as much as they used to. How do you sort

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<v Speaker 4>of square that circle?

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, Yeah, prices are supply and demand. Prices are supply

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<v Speaker 1>and demand. But what we're doing in the administration is

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<v Speaker 1>everything possible to lower the cost of produce energy in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States. Cheaper to produce a barrel of oil

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<v Speaker 1>or an MCF and natural gas, you know, or a

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<v Speaker 1>ton of coal or a kilowater hour of electricity from

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<v Speaker 1>nuclear plants. So that's deregulatory, that's common sense regulation focused

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<v Speaker 1>on health and safety and the environment, but not the

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<v Speaker 1>nonsense that just burdens burdens energy producers. Nuclear will be

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit more expensive at the start, but I

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<v Speaker 1>think think that cost will be borne by hyperscalers. They

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<v Speaker 1>want to see nuclear rearrives and they'll sign higher power

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<v Speaker 1>purchase agreements to help kickstart nuclear. We need to grow

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<v Speaker 1>the energy supply and keep costs down. You're right, that's

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<v Speaker 1>a challenge. You're right to bring that issue up, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's what I work on seven days a week.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's get at the regulatory burden. We're lucky to have

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<v Speaker 2>someone in your seat that's actually ran an energy company

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<v Speaker 2>in this country. As you know, permitting it's really difficult

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<v Speaker 2>across many dimensions. You have to go state by state,

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<v Speaker 2>and the things you can do at the executive level

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<v Speaker 2>to make this a lot easier. Could you describe those

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<v Speaker 2>kind of things?

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<v Speaker 1>There are a number of things, and it is why

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<v Speaker 1>we created the National Energy Dominance Council. That's really to

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<v Speaker 1>bring people leaders from all different agencies that impact the

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<v Speaker 1>ability to build things in our country together and say what.

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<v Speaker 1>We talk to producers and say, you know, why aren't

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<v Speaker 1>you building that? And they'll give us a list of

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<v Speaker 1>seven things. It'll take us seven years, and we're really

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<v Speaker 1>worried about this one and that one. So we dive

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<v Speaker 1>into those issues and say how can we simplify that?

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<v Speaker 1>But I'll highlight a Supreme Court decision from just a

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<v Speaker 1>few weeks ago on to get more oil out of

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<v Speaker 1>Utah via train that had been held up for years

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<v Speaker 1>through suits over NEPA, and the Supreme Court ruled eight

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<v Speaker 1>to zero. Every Supreme Court justice involved in the case said, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>we need to put NEPA back in its box. It's

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<v Speaker 1>to check to make sure the environment's being considered. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not to have years long, endless delays because if you

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<v Speaker 1>delay something, you make it more uncertain, more expensive, and

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<v Speaker 1>simply less things get built.

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<v Speaker 2>Mister Secretary, I appreciate your time as always to break

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<v Speaker 2>down the situation. Hopefully we can engage you on this

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<v Speaker 2>conversation again. Chris Ryanthand, the Energy Secretary of the United States,