On Wednesday, the Biden administration released a statement pleading with OPEC to increase oil production so the United States could increase its import of oil to reduce gasoline costs, which have soared largely as a result of President Biden policies restricting domestic oil production.
“Higher gasoline costs, if left unchecked, risk harming the ongoing global recovery. The price of crude oil has been higher than it was at the end of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic,” the statement said. “While OPEC+ recently agreed to production increases, these increases will not fully offset previous production cuts that OPEC+ imposed during the pandemic until well into 2022. At a critical moment in the global recovery, this is simply not enough.”
“President Biden has made clear that he wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump,” the statement continued. “Although we are not a party to OPEC, the United States will always speak to international partners regarding issues of significance that affect our national economic and security affairs, in public and private. We are engaging with relevant OPEC+ members on the importance of competitive markets in setting prices. Competitive energy markets will ensure reliable and stable energy supplies, and OPEC+ must do more to support the recovery.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) reacted to the news on Twitter, calling it “a whole new level of stupid” and “anti-American.”
Crenshaw tweeted, “Reaching a whole new level of stupid, the Biden administration asks OPEC (foreign oil) to increase production while making every possible attempt to destroy CLEANER American oil and gas. Not just stupid, but anti-American.
Reaching a whole new level of stupid, the Biden administration asks OPEC (foreign oil) to increase production, while making every possible attempt to destroy CLEANER American oil and gas.
Not just stupid, but anti-American. https://t.co/aqMvp7ogX2
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) August 11, 2021
Biden began his presidency aggressively targeting oil production, beginning with an Executive Order issued on his first day in office that cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline which was to transport Canadian crude oil to American refineries, and then issuing a Memorandum banning oil drilling on federal lands a few weeks later.
