US President Biden has been troubled by the high domestic oil prices recently, and even went so far as to publicly quarrel with domestic energy giants over this. According to the " Global Times " report, Biden recently wrote a letter to a number of American oil companies, asking these companies to help the United States lower oil prices. Biden, who was already furious, even denounced these large plutocrats in his letter for "hoarding money" and "making huge war fortunes."
However, American oil companies did not take Biden's accusations seriously at all, let alone buy into Biden's account. According to US media disclosures, the American Petroleum Institute, which represents the interests of these oil companies, later issued a statement to refute Biden: Their companies have been working hard to increase oil production and supply, and have also maintained close contact and communication with White House staff. In addition, these oil companies also joined forces with Biden to demand that the White House relax relevant restrictions on oil companies and support the U.S. energy industry by encouraging investment.
According to the latest statistics released by the American Automobile Association, the recent average price of regular unleaded gasoline at national gas stations in the United States exceeded $5 per gallon on the evening of June 10, becoming a record high in the history of the United States. By comparison, the average price of gasoline in the United States during the same period last year was only $3.07 per gallon. This is equivalent to a 62% surge in gasoline prices in the United States over the past year, and the surge has once again set a new record.
Based on the calculation that one US gallon is approximately equal to 3.79 liters and 1 US is equivalent to 6.738 RMB, the price of gasoline in the United States is approximately equivalent to 8.8 RMB per liter. This is very close to the gasoline price in China, which has exceeded the 9 yuan mark. This shows how violent the inflation in the United States is.
In fact, the reason why Biden is fighting with domestic oil giants regardless of his image is because at a sensitive moment when U.S. oil prices continue to soar, these companies do not intend to follow the instructions of the White House and go all out to prioritize domestic fuel needs. On the contrary, out of profit considerations, they sell most of the oil and related products they produce to European countries at prices higher than those in the U.S. market.
In fact, it is no wonder that in order to maintain the stability of the domestic energy market, the U.S. government has been placing multiple strings on these energy companies, namely limiting the internal sales prices of domestic oil producers, and in order to control international oil prices, it has imposed restrictions on the production of those energy companies. limit. Therefore, since Biden is "unkind", don't blame them for being "unjust".
Because of the backlash from domestic oil companies, Biden was forced to violate his own sanctions against Russia and open a backdoor to allow many American companies to continue to purchase oil from Russia in order to stabilize the soaring domestic oil prices. Even so, U.S. gasoline prices have exceeded an all-time high of $5 per gallon. Therefore, Biden has rarely issued an open letter to denounce domestic oil companies for "war profiteering", which is enough to show that the worsening inflation has forced Biden to start cursing.
You must know that Biden’s current support rate is the lowest level since he took office, with only 36% left. In addition, people’s distrust in the government has soared to 80%. Under such circumstances, if the White House does not take any measures and allows domestic oil prices to continue to soar, Biden's approval rating will continue to fall. The consequences may be disastrous for Biden, who has just announced that he will participate in the 2024 election. sexual.
And just when Biden was in trouble due to the soaring oil prices and the disobedience of domestic and international oil producers, America's archenemy Iran began to take action. On the 16th local time, after the United States announced a new round of sanctions against Iran, Tehran responded quickly and announced that starting from July 1, the price of crude oil exported by Iran would increase by US$6.1 per barrel.
Prior to this, the United States had lowered its dignity and proactively contacted Iran and Venezuela, promising to lift some sanctions on the above two countries, but the prerequisite was that the oil must be exported to Europe.However, Venezuela rejected the U.S. request on the grounds that "the oil facilities are in dilapidated condition due to U.S. sanctions and cannot increase production."
Iran has been taking advantage of the international energy crisis to continuously increase oil production and plans to restore oil production to pre-sanctions levels by the end of this year. However, Iran suddenly announced an increase in crude oil export prices as U.S. oil prices soared like fire. Iran's move is not simply out of economic interests, but is helping Russia use its energy trump card to fight back against Western countries.
Although the United States has not purchased oil from Iran, Iran's announcement to increase oil prices at this sensitive moment is purely to deliberately create obstacles for Biden. After all, at a time when international energy supply exceeds demand, Iran's move will further increase international oil prices. For the United States, which is suffering from soaring oil prices, this is tantamount to adding insult to injury.
