Biden warns oil and gas companies to get prices down
Summary
President Joe Bidens administration on Wednesday released a letter it addressed to seven oil and gas companies, urging them to take steps to lower the cost of fuel as the price of a gallon of on-highway diesel crosses $6 in many regions across the country. Those include weather events, labor shortages, incidents like a 2019 fire at a major refinery, and a lack of capital expenditures on increased oil capacity, due to a shaky political and business climate around fossil fuels. "Demand for energy, specifically crude oil, has surged as global economies have rebounded from the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic," API wrote. "In part, supplies have not kept pace due to global underinvestment in recent years driven by geopolitical and market forces, public policies, and investor sentiment." APIs plan also called for a rollback of steel tariffs on U.S. allies, something that Bidens administration has reportedly considered, though experts note its impact on overall inflation would likely be minimal.