The Biden administration has reportedly been asking oil and gas companies to lower the cost of fuel as record high gas prices, largely resulting from a quick crackdown on domestic oil and gas production after President Biden took office, have led the administration into yet another crisis.
“Energy costs are rising worldwide, in some cases leading to shortages in major economies like China and India. In the United States, the average retail cost of a gallon of gas is at a seven-year high, and winter fuel costs are expected to surge, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Oil-and-gas production remains below the nation’s peak reached in 2019,” Reuters reported. “The talks with energy companies touched on several issues, including prices, according to a third person familiar with the discussions. The administration has been in discussions with the oil industry over limiting methane emissions in recent months.”
Reuters noted that the Biden administration’s early policies targeting oil and gas companies will cause the White House pleas for an increase in domestic production to “fall on deaf ears.”
“It can take six months to drill and complete a new well and bring the oil and gas to market,” Reuters wrote. “Any call by the White House for an increase in U.S. production is likely to fall on deaf ears, according to one oil executive, who did not want to be identified criticizing the approach. The industry has also been unhappy with some of President Joe Biden’s earlier actions, including a temporary drilling halt on federal lands, that they see as an attack on the industry.”
Anne Bradbury, CEO at the American Exploration and Production Council, explained to Reuters, “By pursuing policies that restrict supply and make it harder to produce oil and natural gas here in America, Americans will have to pay more for their energy.”
