Gasoline prices are coming down. But Trump’s drill-baby-drill promises are not the reason

Gasoline prices are coming down, and President Donald Trump is happy to take credit for that. But he has little to do with it, experts say, and his policies could make it more expensive to increase domestic oil production from already record levels.

The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark used for US crude oil, is at $66.71, down 11% from the day after Trump took office. Gasoline prices haven’t fallen as fast, but they are approaching $3 per gallon. The national average for a gallon of regular stands at $3.08, according to AAA, down about 2% from when Trump took office but nearly 10% from a year ago.

“A very big thing that I’m very happy with is oil is down,” he said in remarks in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “We’re getting that down. When energy comes down, prices are going to be coming down with it. So in a very short period of time, we’ve done a very good job.”

And the rest of the presidential administration has been eager to back up his claims, with White House senior counselor Peter Navarro saying that Trump’s policies caused the price drop.