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Trump met with top oil CEOs in closed-door event

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Industry concerned about falling oil prices, looming trade wars

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Meeting marked Trump's first sit-down with oil and gas leaders since return to White House

(Updates throughout to reflect meeting is over and administration reaction, adds oil settlement prices for Wednesday)

By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt

March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump hosted top oil executives at the White House on Wednesday as he charted plans to boost domestic energy production in the midst of falling crude prices and looming trade wars.

It was Trump's first sit-down with oil and gas leaders since he returned to the White House in January.

The discussion centered on pushing American energy dominance, reforming the permit process and the need to build up the nation's electricity grid to compete with China in the area of artificial intelligence, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters after the meeting.

Executives had been expected to express concerns over Trump's tariffs and stress the industry view that higher oil prices are needed to help meet Trump's promise to grow domestic production.

Burgum said there "was really no discussion on price," because prices are established by supply and demand.

Wright said the "tariff dialog is still ongoing."

"Ultimately, the president's whole economic agenda is to lower prices in the United States and grow job opportunities in the United States," Wright said.

The meeting included members of the American Petroleum Institute's executive committee, the source said.

Hess Corp ( HES ) CEO John Hess, ExxonMobil ( XOM ) CEO Darren Woods, Chevron ( CVX ) CEO Mike Wirth, ConocoPhillips ( COP ) CEO Ryan Lance, Phillips 66 CEO Mark Lashier and Marathon Petroleum ( MPC ) CEO Maryann Mannen are among the leaders on the trade group's executive committee, according to public biographies.

Harold Hamm, founder and CEO of Continental Resources and one of Trump's biggest political donors, was also at the meeting.

API President Mike Sommers said in a statement that industry leaders appreciated the opportunity to speak with Trump. Sommers did not provide details of what transpired in the meeting.

Trump and his allies came into office vowing to boost already record U.S. oil production by as much as 3 million barrels per day and cut energy prices for inflation-stricken Americans, in part by rolling back environmental regulations and speeding permitting.

"The best way to maintain oil production and energy independence is to support a higher oil price," said Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston. "Drill-baby-drill is not the way forward. And so I think they're going to try and make that point to him tactfully."

Analysts at energy analytics firm Wood Mackenzie projected benchmark Brent oil prices would average $73 per barrel in 2025, down $7 per barrel from 2024 due to U.S. tariff policies and OPEC+ plans to boost output.

On Wedneday, Brent settled at $70.78 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $67.16.

Trump is pursuing a trade war with allies Mexico and Canada that the API has publicly opposed, in part because the two U.S. neighbors are its top sources of imported crude oil.

Trump already imposed tariffs on imported crude from Canada and Mexico but issued exemptions for producers who can prove they comply with the trade agreement between the three countries, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Last month, in response to the tariffs, API CEO Mike Sommers said, "Energy markets are highly integrated, and free and fair trade across our borders is critical for delivering affordable, reliable energy to U.S. consumers."

API has publicly released a five-point energy plan for Trump and Congress to follow that includes permit reform, boosting offshore oil leasing, protecting tax credits for carbon capture and hydrogen production and rolling back subsidies for electric vehicles. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Sheila Dang in Houston, and Nandita Bose and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams and David Gregorio)