Biden Hit with Another Failure as OPEC Smacks Down His Request for More Oil
Americans will be stuck paying higher gas prices for the foreseeable future, thanks to President Joe Biden’s destructive energy policies and OPEC’s dismissal of his request to increase global oil production to counteract soaring prices in the United States.
Four sources told Reuters on Monday that there’s no need for OPEC to boost oil output over the next few months simply because American consumers are hurting.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries comprises 15 member countries, including two nations that are hostile to the United States, Iran and Venezuela. So it’s no surprise that U.S. foes aren’t eager to accommodate a request from the American president.
“One of the four sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters there was no need to release extra oil more quickly, while another said there was no concern that the planned schedule of increases would leave any demand unmet,” Reuters reported.
This demeaning OPEC move occurred shortly after Taliban terrorists took over much of Afghanistan amid Biden’s humiliating, chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops.
If America’s standing in the world were not in tatters due to Biden’s feckless leadership, it’s possible OPEC might have acceded to his demands. But that’s just not how things stand right now.
Last week, the Biden administration begged OPEC to increase output. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed that “higher gasoline costs, if left unchecked, risk harming the ongoing global recovery.”
In July, OPEC Plus grouping — which includes members and nonmembers such as Russia — agreed to increase oil production by 400,000 barrels a day a month, starting in August, until it phases out its current oil output reductions of 5.8 million barrels per day.
However, the White House said these adjustments were not enough to balance out soaring gas prices in America.
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“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,” Sullivan said. “At a critical moment in the global recovery, this is simply not enough.”
He said the White House made the plea to OPEC because Biden “wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump.”
Sullivan rebuked OPEC, saying it was not doing enough. “Competitive energy markets will ensure reliable and stable energy supplies, and OPEC+ must do more to support the recovery,” he said.
The United States is not a member of OPEC or OPEC Plus, so it’s not surprising that Biden’s pleas were summarily ignored.
The average price of gasoline in the U.S. is $3.185 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. That’s more than $1 higher than the average price of $2.183 from last year, when Donald Trump was president.
When Trump was in the White House, he made U.S. energy independence a top priority. That’s because America’s dependence on foreign rivals for its oil supply is a direct threat to its national security and economy.
Biden, however, apparently has made destroying America’s oil independence a top goal. One of the first things he did when he took office was to stop construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was designed to increase the flow of oil from Canada to the United States.
He also halted new oil and gas leases on public lands. This was all part of a sweeping initiative to make climate change the focal point of his administration’s foreign policy and national security programs.
Financial experts say all this does is hurt the economy, destroy jobs and set the stage for increased energy costs for all Americans, including sky-high gas prices. And this is exactly what we’re happening now.
Biden mistakenly believes that blocking oil drilling in the United States will curb oil and gas production worldwide. But that’s not true, as we’re witnessing now, when America has to beg other countries to increase oil output.
“Oil and gas production won’t end,” Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana told KLFY-TV in February. “It will only move overseas, where it’s far less regulated.”
Ironically, Biden’s misguided approach likely only exacerbates the climate issues it aims to address.
“Sending energy production to countries with horrible ecological records is the worst thing we can do for our climate,” Higgins pointed out.
Under Trump, the U.S. was energy independent for the first time since 1957, according to the Institute for Energy Research.
Under Biden, the nation is backsliding — without advancing the environmental causes he claims to champion.
“When you depend on these other countries, you lose the jobs, you lose the economic activity and you result in greater global emissions,” Republican Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana told KLFY.
Graves said Biden’s catastrophic policies have crushed the once-sizzling U.S. economy and are forcing consumers to pay higher prices on everything, including gas.
“The Biden administration wasted no time launching a full-scale assault on oil and gas that will send production overseas and further injure the economy,” he said.
“It is going to be death by a thousand cuts,” Graves lamented.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
