Chris Wright

Chris Wright confirmed on 25 June 2026 that the Strait of Hormuz cleared approximately 20 million barrels in a single 24-hour period, a single-day crisis record during the MOU's first week. Brent Crude fell to $71.99 the following day through CENTCOM's Qeshm and Sirik strikes, reflecting market confidence in corridor durability over the resumed conflict. Wright has been the administration's consistent energy-security voice on Hormuz: his early position that the US would not block Iranian oil transit publicly diverged from Defence Secretary Hegseth, contributing to sharp market volatility when Brent closed above $100.

Wright is the 17th US Secretary of Energy, confirmed by the Senate on 3 February 2025 with a 59-38 vote. A mechanical and electrical engineer educated at MIT, he founded and led Liberty Energy, North America's second-largest hydraulic fracturing company, before his Cabinet appointment. He has publicly stated there is "no climate crisis" and has worked to roll back climate mitigation policies. In October 2025, he invoked Section 403 of the DOE Organisation Act to direct FERC to open Docket RM26-4-000, standardising how electricity loads above 20 MW connect to the transmission grid, a direct response to AI data-centre demand overwhelming local grids.

Wright's tenure spans multiple tracked topics. On data-centre infrastructure, the RM26-4-000 directive is the only federal mechanism capable of overriding the growing mosaic of municipal moratoriums on grid connections; FERC committed to act by end of June 2026. On Hormuz, the 20m-barrel single-day record and Brent's fall through the resumed strikes mark a decisive shift from the $100+ readings of the conflict's opening weeks, positioning Wright as the administration's evidence-based moderating voice on energy security.