Energy secretary on U.S.-Iran conflict, American oil reserve and more

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mojtaba Khamenei has been named as his father's successor. Read more about it HERE.

(CBS, KYMA) - Energy Secretary Chris Wright spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

According to Brennan, 50,000 U.S. troops have been deployed, and seven Americans have been killed in action, as of Monday.

In addition, a CBS News polls says 56% of Americans disapprove the war with Iran, prompting Brennan to ask Secretary Wright what he tells energy executives regarding the scope and duration of America's involvement, and how long, to which Wright said:

"I tell them that for 47 years, Iran [has] waged war against the United States, and...throughout that 47 years, they've tried to undermine the energy development and energy infrastructure of all their neighbors, as they're doing right now, and it's time to put it to an end. So yes, we have a, we have a temporary period of elevated energy prices, but it will not be long. In the worst case, this is weeks, this is not months, and it leads to a much better place. It leads to an Iran that's defanged, that can't threaten its neighbors, can't threaten American soldiers and can't continue to drive up energy prices by making a mess of the Middle East. They can move to commerce, not conflict."

Brennan then brought up a AAA report where the national gas price average is $3.48, as of Monday, along with reports of oil prices spiking as well.

This led her to ask Wright how high he thinks oil and gas are going to go, and Wright said:

"They shouldn't go much higher than they are here because the world is very well supplied with oil. There's no energy shortage at all in the Western Hemisphere...The United States is a net exporter of oil, a large net exporter of natural gas. But refineries in Asia and Europe are seeing an interruption from the normal crude flows. But there is massive energy stores around the world. What you're seeing is emotional reactions and fear that this is a long-term war. This is not a long-term war...It's a temporary movement."

During the interview, Brennan and Wright talked about President Donald Trump saying he was open to tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is America's stockpile of oil.

However, Wright referred to it as depleted, leading Brennan to ask if America doesn't have adequate stockpiles, and Wright said:

"No. America still has over 400 million barrels of oil in our strategic petroleum reserve, and, of course, robust production. We're more than happy to use that if it's needed. But...it's a logistics issue. Where do they need oil? They need oil at refineries in Europe and in Asia. And that's why we took a very pragmatic step. There's over 100 million barrels of floating Russian crude waiting in line to deliver to China. That's going to be sold, it's going to be refined, but that could be one or two months from now. So in a pragmatic way, with no change in U.S. policy towards Russia, we told the Indians, bring that into your refineries. You know, if you're feeling a shortage of crude, prices are being bid up, draw down that Russian crude stocks that are sitting right offshore."

Later in the interview, Brennan and Wright talked about the Iranian regime going forward.

"We don't know what the regime will be in place at the, at the end of this conflict, but we do know that regime will not have a massive weapons arsenal, that that regime will no longer be a massive threat to Americans and to the Middle East and to global oil supplies. President Trump is using bold leadership. We can't change the world at a blink of an eye, but we can steer it in massively positive directions, and yes, Venezuela is a great example of that. Crime in the nearby Trinidad and Tobago has plummeted already from our actions in Venezuela, and President Trump's insistence that he's going to work with that our neighbors to reduce drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. Leadership takes- involves risks, but if you want to drive improvement, you've got to be confident, you've got to have the right agenda, and you've got to have the courage to do it. This president does."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Wright, click here.