Pompeo said to discuss trade, foreign policy with oil executives

HOUSTON (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo will meet with senior U.S. oil executives in Houston on Tuesday to discuss boosting boost crude exports and advancing America’s position as a global energy powerhouse, according to people with knowledge of the meeting.

Pompeo will talk about the role energy can play in advancing the Trump administration’s foreign policy goals, said the people, who declined to be named because the meeting is private. U.S.-granted waivers allowing some companies to buy Iranian crude despite sanctions are set to expire in May.

Pompeo is due to give a speech at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference at 6 p.m. Houston time. The meeting was earlier reported by Reuters. Executives from Chevron Corp., Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum Corp. were among the invited, Reuters said.

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment.

The U.S. wants to make sure that there are markets available around the world and that Europe and Asia are “prepared to buy not only our crude oil but our natural gas,” Pompeo said in an interview with WOAI San Antonio’s First News earlier today. “Importantly, it has deep national security implications as well if we’re successful at this.”