Washington DC - President Donald Trump will meet oil refining executives on Tuesday as he tries to tame gas prices sent spiraling by the Iran war ahead of the midterm elections in November.

"The president will meet with industry leaders to collaborate on the best ways to increase refining capacity, further unleash American energy dominance across the entire supply chain, and bring down prices for the American people," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement to AFP on Monday.

The talks were "especially timely as we increase Venezuelan crude flow to US refineries," another White House official said separately.

The White House did not release a list of companies attending Tuesday's meeting, but said it would include a "mix of small, medium, and large refiners and distributors."

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The meeting comes as Republicans fear voters will turn against them in November's crucial midterm elections as high fuel prices dramatically raise the cost of living for ordinary Americans.

The talks also come days after Trump announced a deal for a huge US stake in the oil reserves of Venezuela, whose leader Nicolas Maduro was toppled by US forces in January.

Trump said on Friday that the deal would provide "majority US control" of 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan petroleum reserves.

Trump is hoping the Venezuelan oil can offset the disruption of global oil supplies caused by the Iran war that he launched with Israel six months ago.