Biden Blasted by Big Oil for Turning to OPEC for more Crude

The White House’s push for additional crude from OPEC and its partners this week has angered Big Oil. The strong lobbying group that represents the US oil and gas industry, the American Petroleum Institute, is saying that President Joe Biden should focus on increasing domestic oil output before going elsewhere. A White House official responded by emphasising the necessity of “reliable and stable energy markets at this critical juncture” in the worldwide recovery from the pandemic.

President Biden has stated his desire for Americans to have affordable energy, even at the pump. According to AAA, the national average price of gasoline is near a seven-year high of $3.18 per gallon, up from $2.18 a year ago. Higher energy prices are a result of supply failing to keep up with rising demand as more people fly and drive now that many have been immunised.

OPEC and its partners, including Russia, are continuing to hold back supplies that was taken offline at the start of the outbreak. They’ve just steadily increased the number of barrels. On Wednesday, the Biden administration urged  to do more to battle rising oil costs. In a statement, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that OPEC+ must do more to boost the economy.

It’s worth noting that Biden is the most recent US president to turn to OPEC for assistance, a move that even former President Trump made despite his support for American energy superiority. Goldman Sachs strategists said in a note to clients on Thursday that the White House’s outreach to OPEC+ is “unlikely” to be productive in the short term. The Wall Street firm expressed concern about the Delta variant’s impact on demand. The API, which has a vested interest in domestic energy production, believes that allowing US oil companies to operate freely is a preferable answer.