As the midterm election enters the countdown, what should Biden do to alleviate the public grievances caused by high oil prices in order to preserve the presidency. Biden is now increasing pressure on the oil industry, trying to curb the political impact of rising fuel costs on the eve of the midterm elections. But analysts said Biden is actually looking for a scapegoat to cover up his incompetence.
In recent weeks, senior Biden administration officials have publicly warned businesses not to inflation . Privately, the message they convey is more direct. People familiar with the discussions revealed they have complained to executives about their inflatable profits, and threatened to impose tough new restrictions, such as restricting companies' fuel exports if the industry refuses to help lower oil prices.
Biden's Chief of Staff Ron Kline said on Twitter that Biden will deliver a speech on gasoline prices on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is authorizing the release of more oil from its strategic oil reserves, continuing a month-long pattern designed to stop further sharp oil prices.
Biden administration’s efforts to maintain low oil prices highlight how oil and gas costs are often intertwined for the ruling party. They also show how limited policy options are for residents within the White House .
Analysts say a range of factors beyond the control of the Biden administration are pushing up fuel prices. These include shutdowns in refineries in California and the Midwest, tightening of European sanctions on Russia, deep-rooted imbalances in supply and demand, and the recent decision of OPEC to cut oil production despite the White House opposition. Therefore, the White House decided to adopt a long-term pressure strategy - publicly criticizing oil companies while privately pressuring their executives. The outbreak of
comes as the price of natural gas in the United States nationwide has once again shown an upward trend, erasing the evidence that US President Biden (Joe Biden) has regarded the decline in oil prices as evidence that his economic policies have worked for weeks. Although the trend has weakened in the past few days, the longer-term outlook looks bleak, which has concerns officials that volatile prices may damage the Democratic midterm election opportunities at the last minute.
Currently, the average price of gasoline is $3.87 per gallon, about 20 cents more than a month ago. In more than a dozen states, oil prices have exceeded the $4 mark. Biden's allies believe this is especially troublesome for Democrats trying to sell economic improvements to voters.
And, Biden and his advisers have been focusing on the political importance of gas prices, which they believe determines how voters think about the economy. Lack of immediate policy solutions, they targeted the oil industry, attacking oil companies to make record profits, and criticized that these oil companies could have lowered gas prices on their own if they were not out of their own greed.
Biden once directly urged oil and gas companies to cut prices in late September, accusing them of making excessive profits from higher fuel costs amid falling global oil prices. Biden issued an order at the time, "Reduce the price you charge at the gas station to reflect the cost you pay for the product, do it now, not a month later, do it now."
Although a discerning person saw that Biden's move was for the vote. But White House spokesman Abdullah Hassan said in a statement that the Biden administration’s tough stance on the oil industry is to “promote the interests of the American people —whether it means asking the oil industry for their ideas to increase oil and gas production or asking them to create record profit margins during war times.”
