SAN ANTONIO – On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran and impose new sanctions on the country, leaving many wondering how the decision would impact oil and gas prices.
Christopher Ashcraft, vice president of the South Texas Energy and Economic Roundtable, said Tuesday that there is nothing to worry about locally.
"You're not going to see any kind of gas shortages," said Ashcraft. "You're not going to see any changes at the pump that are drastic, and with anything that does come as a result of this deal, the United States can easily swing production. So, it will have minimal impact on our region."
Ashcraft said oil has had a lot of ups and downs since 2010 as far as supply and demand, but he says the U.S. can handle it.
"Regardless of these price swings, production in the United States remains very, very strong, to the point now where we are the number two producer in the world," said Ashcraft. "We have overtaken Russia and we're soon to overtake Saudi Arabia."
In fact, Ashcraft said this could actually benefit South Texas with the resources we have here.
"You got to remember when that price goes up on the barrel, it means more American jobs, more production and more manufacturing," said Ashcraft. "It's just easy for the Texas economy as a whole. Most importantly, it means more revenue into the schools, into road infrastructure, everything that we utilize that money for in Texas."
Ashcraft says we make up about 40, 45 percent production of the whole United States in Texas alone, which shows the importance of oil and gas in our community.