US President Donald Trump announced a network of Philadelphia-area gas stations offering discounted prices as a gift to the American people around Independence Day.
It is not clear who is in charge of the bill.
The White House has said only that the venture is a private company willing to act on its own behalf to help American drivers struggling with high prices following the war in Iran. Trump himselfhe said on social networksbacked by a “very smart businessman” who is “doing this because they love the USA”
Freedom Fuel Networkbare-bones websitelists 25 participating stations in southeastern Pennsylvania and southern Jersey. Most of those stations changed their brand to Freedom Fuel Network immediately, according tolocal newsreport.
More than half a dozen oil industry analysts and officials, including some who work with retailers in the two states, told POLITICO they did not know who was behind the effort and wondered how the retailer could survive offering discounts of up to 50 cents a gallon, below the market rate.
“I’ve been seeing the news, and we’ve had members or others who have contacted them asking what it is, and I haven’t been able to get any answers,” said Eric Blomgren, executive director of the New Jersey Energy Merchants Group, which represents oil retailers and distributors in the state.
Business records show that Freedom Fuel Network LLC was incorporated in Delaware on June 23, just a week before Trump announced it on his Social Facts account. The White House declined to say who was behind the network, disclosing only that it is a “private company” and that the administration was not involved in its creation or in the recruitment centers.
“There is no entity or person subsidizing the lower cost of gasoline,” a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail the program, said in a statement. “They’re lowering their rate to make the price at the pump more affordable for drivers in Philadelphia and New Jersey.”
The official added that there is “no specific timetable” for how long the discount will be offered, but said participating stations have seen a “significant increase in volume.” The White House declined to connect POLITICO with a representative of the Freedom Oil Network, which did not respond to questions sent through a contact form on its website.
“Freedom Fuel is a patriotic company doing good for drivers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by lowering gas prices,” White House spokesman Taylor Rogers said in a statement. “They are doing their part to respond to the President’s call to lower prices at the pump. This retailer is leading the way, and we hope to see others follow.”
It is not clear whether the Freedom Fuel Network itself owns or operates any of the participating stations, or whether they operate independently and choose to use the common Freedom Fuel brand. Most gas stations in the United States are owned and operated by private owners, some of whomlicense platefrom major oil producers like Exxon Mobil or Chevron.
At least seven stations in the Liberty Oil Network appear in asset records owned by affiliates of Blue Owl, a leading publicly traded asset manager in New York. Trumprevealed last monththat he bought and sold millions of dollars in Blue Owl stock last year and owns a large stake.
Through its subsidiaries, Blue Owl owns hundreds of gas station properties formerly operated by Georgia gasoline distributor and retailer Mountain Express Oil. Mountain Express declared bankruptcy in 2023 after unsuccessful efforts to expand nationwidesupported by Blue Owl.
A spokesperson for Blue Owl said in a statement that the properties are under long-term leases and it has no say over its tenants’ activities or business decisions.
“Blue Owl owns the property through a triple-net lease structure and is not involved in the tenant’s activities or business decisions,” the spokesperson said, referring totype of leasefor which the tenant is responsible for property taxes, insurance and maintenance costs.
The White House official said Blue Owl “has nothing to do with Freedom Oil.”
One of the stations owned by Blue Owl, in Dresher, Pennsylvania, hosted Jarrod Agen, executive director of the White House’s National Energy Administration Council, for a launch event last Friday. Decorated with eagles, flags and other patriotic insignia, the station dispensed gas for $3.47 a gallon — below the average of $3.91 for the Philadelphia area, according to the American Automobile Association — “in honor of our 47th president,” Agen said.in the videoprovided by the White House.
The cheaper gas pump prices come as the Trump administration tries to calm Americans’ concerns about the cost of living as the US’s wars with Israel and Iran have sent gasoline prices soaring ahead of the midterm elections. The White House has increased pressure on the oil and gas industry to reduce prices at the pump, which have been slower than crude prices to fall since the US and Iran signed an abandoned ceasefire last month.
The Trump administration has announced aThe Justice Department is investigating major oil producersfor drivers accused of raising prices, andhe called on nations to look into the alleged misconductkeep the pump price up.
National groups representing the oil industry said they were in the dark about the new deal.
A pair of groups representing trucking stations and fuel retailers “had never heard of the Freedom Fuel Network until the White House announced its existence,” Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman, spokeswoman for NATSO and SIGMA, said in an email. “Ours is a very dynamic industry made up of small, mom and pop operators.”
Rob Underwood, president of the Energy Traders of America, said he “learned about the Freedom Fuel Network like everyone else when the story broke.” He added that the price of retail gas is decreasing in the entire sector due to the drop in the price of oil.
Freedom Fuel Network was incorporated in Delaware by Corporation Trust Co., which handles communications and compliance functions for hundreds of thousands of companies.
Josh Destefano, a spokesman for Corporation Trust, said in a statement that it does not comment on the activities of businesses that provide the services of registered agents.
The 25 stations largely did not share the same brand before joining the Liberty Fuels Network. Most were unbranded or branded as independent local chains, such as Gas N Go and Karco, according to Google Maps images. Even before the latest changes, several stations appear to have rebranded or gone independent in recent years.
Most stations do not list contact information online or in public records beyond the address, and POLITICO was unable to reach them for this article.
A station in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, was identified as Shell until it joined the Liberty Oil Network and still appeared on the British oil giant’s website as of this week. Rakhee Sharma, a Shell spokeswoman, said the company was “not associated with the Freedom Fuel Network and was not involved in its creation.”
“Many Shell-branded stations in the United States, including this location, are independently owned and operated by businesses that license the Shell brand,” Sharma said.
Analysts said Uhuru Fuel stations appeared to be selling gas at or below the local wholesale price, which does not take into account labor costs and credit card fees paid directly by station operators.
“You won’t see these facilities at these prices for a long time,” said Tom Kloza, senior energy consultant for US-based oil retailer Gulf Oil. “Economics will dictate that — they’re going to have to close or raise prices very, very quickly.”
In fact, some states, including New Jersey, have laws that prevent gas stations from selling below market rate to prevent large retailers from crowding out smaller competitors, Kloza noted. Those rules are rarely enforced, however, because discounts are offered as very short-term offers.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at the GasBuddy pricing service, said gas stations will sometimes offer cheaper gas on opening day or after a change in ownership. But he has never seen so many stations change their brands and prices at once in such a coordinated fashion.
“It’s very rare, and especially this name, I mean, Freedom Fuel Network — that’s not your average gas station,” he said.
De Haan noted the Freedom Fuel Network shares some similarities with aT-Mobile Promotionin early June when the mobile network company closed select stations in three cities in its unique pink brand and offered its members $1.99-per-gallon gas. A T-Mobile spokesperson said it was not involved in the Freedom Fuel Network.
Blomgren of the New Jersey Energy Merchants Group said many offline retailers would like to lower prices, but continue to face higher oil prices because of the war in Iran.
“I know the president has been tweeting generally about, ‘Oh, we need to lower prices because of oil prices,’ but the (general) price of gas is about 80 cents a gallon higher than it was when the war started, even though oil prices have been at (pre-war) levels,” he said. “So the sellers have basically done everything they can, I think.”
