BIDENOMICS - EXPECT GAS PRICES TO SURGE AS OIL COMPANIES RAKE IN THE PROFITS

 

Donald Trump: Joe Biden Raiding Strategic Oil Reserves ‘at the Mercy of OPEC’

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WH Photo/Joyce N. Boghosian, Gage Skidmore/Flickr

WENDELL HUSEBØ

23 Nov 202115

2:28

Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that President Joe Biden is raiding strategic oil reserves because he is “at the mercy of OPEC” to reduce gas prices for American consumers.

According to the AAA, the national gas price average on Tuesday is $3.403. Gas prices have tripled since 2020.

“I understand that Joe Biden will be announcing an ‘attack’ on the newly brimming Strategic Oil Reserves so that he could get the close to record-setting high oil prices artificially lowered,” Trump said in a statement. “Those reserves are meant to be used for serious emergencies, like war, and nothing else.”

Trump, who made it a goal to become energy independent during his tenure, slammed Biden’s reliance on OPEC instead of American producers.

“We were energy independent one year ago, now we are at the mercy of OPEC,” Trump said, “gasoline is selling for $7 in parts of California, going up all over the Country, and they are taking oil from our Strategic Reserves.”

“Is this any way to run a Country?” he asked.

Trump also stated he refilled the United States’ depleted oil reserves while gas prices were lower and America was energy independent. “I filled them up three years ago, right to the top, when oil prices were very low,” he said.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Trump stabilized the price of oil so American producers could stay in business.

“Once this straightens out, and once you get some demand and then you’re gonna reduce the supply a little bit it’ll equalize and be great again,” he said in April of 2020. “We want to remain independent.”

Oil markets have since recovered following the pandemic petering out. But upon Biden assuming office, the United States’ energy independence has waned.

Biden canceled the Keystone Pipeline in January and is currently weighing whether to terminate another pipeline in Michigan.

On Wednesday Biden avoided responsibility for record-high energy prices and asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate oil companies for “anti-competitive behavior.”

“I therefore ask that the Commission further examine what is happening with oil and gas markets, and that you bring all of the Commission’s tools to bear if you uncover any wrongdoing,” Biden wrote.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø

Oil Prices Jump Higher as Market Rejects Biden Administration’s Strategic Reserve Ploy

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AP Photo/Evan Vucci

JOHN CARNEY

23 Nov 202119

2:12

Oil prices rose above $81 a barrel on Tuesday morning after the Biden administration announced the U.S. and other nations would release tens of millions of barrels of oil from reserves in a ploy to lower prices.

The price of Brent, the global benchmark, rose by more than two percent following the announcement that the U.S. would be releasing 50 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. China, India, South Korea, Japan, and Britain are also planning to release reserves, the White House said.

The Biden administration hopes the reserve release will tamp down the price of gasoline and combat inflation, which has become a major economic and political headache for the administration. The White House and the Federal Reserve earlier this year said that inflation was transitory and would remain confined to just a few areas of the economy, predictions that proved wildly offbase as inflation became widespread, rose to its fastest pace in decades, and appears to be accelerating further.

The U.S. reserves can only be released at a maximum pace of 4.4 million barrels per day, according to the Congressional Research Service, due to pipeline and marine terminal constraints. Total global consumption runs at about 100 million barrels per day. Oil industry experts say the reserve release will likely not put significant downward pressure on prices, doing little to relieve price pressures created by underinvestment in U.S. production in the face of political pressure from climate activists.

Some oil traders say the release is largely symbolic because the U.S. had already planned on selling oil from the reserves as part of deficit reduction authorized by Congress in legislation earlier this year.

At least one member of the Biden administration have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the release. Stephen Nalley, the acting administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, recently told a Senate panel that “the amount of the impact [of a reserve release] would be relatively short-lived.”

 

Thanksgiving Travel on the Rise – Along with Gas Prices

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Justin Sullivan/Getty

SIMON KENT

23 Nov 202156

2:58

Travelers hitting the road for Thanksgiving this week will notice two things on their journey: they’ll have more company and gas prices in many states remain on the rise.

UPI reports the auto group projects some 53.4 million people will travel for the holiday in coming days. That’s an increase of 6.4 million, or 13 percent over last year when coronavirus forced many to bypass the annual family event.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) said about 48.3 million people will drive somewhere for Thanksgiving and 4.2 million will fly.

Those not in the sky and on the ground however will find rising prices at the pump as they have been all year, remaining stubbornly at a seven-year high.

Last week, gas prices in California hit a record high, topping out at $4.682 for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. On Monday, the price for a gallon of regular, unleaded was $4.706, accrording to UPI.

In Florida, gas prices on Thanksgiving are predicted to be the highest in eight years.

“High gas prices are not something drivers will be thankful for this Thanksgiving,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for the AAA-The Auto Club Group.

Gasoline prices are displayed at a gas station on November 15, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. According to AAA, the average price statewide for one gallon of regular unleaded gas hit $4.68 today, an all-time record high. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

President Joe Biden last week warned against illegal conduct from gas companies who may be charging more at at the pump than necessary, calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the price surge across the United States.

He spoke as California reported the highest average price for a gallon of regular gasoline at $4.682, breaking the record high of $4.671 from October 2012.

In a letter addressed to FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan, Biden warned, “The bottom line is this: Gasoline prices at the pump remain high, even though oil and gas companies’ costs are declining.”

The industry’s lobbying association, the American Petroleum Institute, returned serve at Biden’s confused messaging.

Frank Macchiarola, the group’s senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs, called Biden’s push for a probe “a distraction” from the ongoing market shift and said “ill-advised government decisions” are exacerbating the situation.

“Rather than launching investigations on markets that are regulated and closely monitored on a daily basis or pleading with OPEC to increase supply,” he said, “we should be encouraging the safe and responsible development of American-made oil and natural gas.”

All of which affirms for Biden, market forces of supply and demand simply do not heed administrative fiat.

Joe Biden Releases 50 Million Barrels of Oil from National Strategic Petroleum Reserve as Gas Prices Keep Rising

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PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty

CHARLIE SPIERING

23 Nov 20212,410

2:10

The White House announced Tuesday that President Joe Biden would release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The president argued in a statement the demand for oil was not able to keep up with the economy recovering from the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, leading to higher prices.

“American consumers are feeling the impact of elevated gas prices at the pump and in their home heating bills, and American businesses are, too, because oil supply has not kept up with demand as the global economy emerges from the pandemic,” the White House said in a statement.

Biden announced his decision as Americans prepare to hit the road for Thanksgiving travel at the same time prices show no sign of easing, as Breitbart News reports.

Gas prices have hit a seven-year-high as Biden struggles to find a solution to higher gas prices.

Biden failed to convince OPEC+ nations to produce more oil in November and tried to blame the higher prices on oil companies.

Biden’s release from the oil reserve is bigger than that of previous presidents.

In 2011, President Barack Obama released 30 million barrels in the wake of the war in Libya, in 2005, President George W. Bush released 30 million barrels after Hurricane Katrina. In 1999, President Bill Clinton also tapped the emergency oil reserves, releasing 30 million barrels 45 days before the 2000 presidential election.

The White House is also arguing Americans have more money to use to help pay for more expensive gasoline.

In his statement, Biden reminded Americans that thanks to his policies, they “nearly $100 more per month in disposable income in their pockets” to help pay for the higher cost of energy and fuel.

Biden also boasted that his “historic” infrastructure bill invested in green energy with the goal of “a net-zero emissions economy by 2050 and reducing our dependence on foreign fossil fuels.”