With the U.S. set to surpass Saudi Arabia next year as the world's largest crude oil exporter, the Trump administration continues to seek sanctions against another OPEC member Iran.
Some question why the U.S. continues to play such a prominent role in the Middle East.
“It's not just about oil, it's about the safety of the United States and the world in general,” says Phil Flynn at PRICE Futures Group.
Flynn says we've already seen what happens when the U.S. eases pressure on the Middle East.
“ISIS may have never been built up if we kept a strong presence in Iraq,” he says. “It's nice to think we can just walk away and everything's going to be okay, but generally speaking when we leave that void the bad guys go in there and try to fill it.”
“There have been some bad actors, some bad countries that became more powerful when the U.S. tried to lead from behind and we're still paying the price for that. So I think you need a strong United States presence.”