The White House is weighing how to use the Defence Production Act to expand US oil refining capacity, as the conflict with Iran exposes the country’s vulnerability to global crude supply disruptions and price spikes, Reuters reports citing two sources familiar with the administration’s plans.

Considering such an extraordinary step highlights how the Trump administration is under growing pressure to show it can contain the impact of surging fuel prices on consumers and businesses ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The proposal to use the act came up during a recent meeting between President Donald Trump and nearly a dozen US refiners, where White House officials sought to determine how federal support could best be used to add capacity, the sources say.

No final decisions were made, and participants left the meeting with the expectation that the conversations would continue, according to the sources.

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