Democrat President Joe Biden attempted to brag about the mild reduction in gas prices in recent weeks by pointing to his decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Biden notably did not mention that the price of gas is currently nearly double what it was when he entered office.
“I’ve been releasing about 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and rallied our global partners to release a combined 240 million barrels of oil onto the market,” Biden wrote on Twitter. “Our actions are working, and prices are coming down.”
I’ve been releasing about 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and rallied our global partners to release a combined 240 million barrels of oil onto the market.
Our actions are working, and prices are coming down. pic.twitter.com/5zrBPGvRJv
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 19, 2022
However, the national average price of gasoline was $2.38 per gallon the week of Biden’s inauguration and rose to $3.53 per gallon by the week that Russia invaded Ukraine, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Since then, gas prices rose to over $5.00 per gallon in June but have since dropped slightly to $4.49 per gallon.
Additionally, gas prices are expected to surge again after oil prices spiked this week because Biden failed to make a deal with OPEC+ during his recent visit to the Middle East.
“The price of oil rose on Monday after the US president, Joe Biden, came away from talks in the Middle East without an agreement on raising supply,” The Guardian reported. “Biden had hoped to secure a promise from Saudi Arabia to increase its output of oil, which could lead to an easing of global supply pressures.”
“But Brent crude rose 2.6% to $103.88 (£86.91) on Monday after Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, quelled speculation over an output increase,” The Guardian added. “He said that officials at a US-Arab summit on Saturday did not discuss oil and that the Opec+ oil cartel nations would continue to assess market conditions.”
Naeem Aslam, the chief market analyst at Avatrade, said: “The message is that it is Opec+ that makes the oil supply decision, and the cartel isn’t remotely interested in what Biden is trying to achieve.”
“Opec+ will continue to control oil supply, and one country alone cannot determine the oil supply – at least that is the message that traders have taken from Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia,” Aslam added.
