White House: All options are ‘on the table’ for countering OPEC+ cuts
The White House’s National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said Thursday that the Biden administration is weighing options to extend drops in domestic gas prices, even in light of the recently announced daily production cuts by OPEC+.
Deese told reporters traveling with President Joe Biden to New York that while “American consumers are paying significantly less for gas at the pump today than they were a month ago,” domestic gas prices “can and should come down more.”
OPEC+ CUTS OIL PRODUCTION BY 2 BILLION BARRELS PER DAY IN BLOW TO BIDEN
“The wholesale price, the price that the gas station companies are paying for that gas, notwithstanding the fact that oil prices have come up with it, is still historically low compared to the retail price that they’re charging at the pump,” he continued. “So that’s one place where there is more opportunity.”
Outside of pressuring domestic companies to pass savings on to consumers, Deese notably did not confirm what specific policies Biden is weighing in light of the OPEC+ cuts, which the group announced Wednesday amount to 2 million barrels per day.
Those options include a potential export ban on U.S.-produced oil and legislation — which has already advanced out of committee in the Senate and that the White House previously opposed — that would revoke sovereign immunity for OPEC+ members, including Russia.
Deese told reporters Thursday that Biden has ordered the White House to keep all options “on the table” until a decision is made.
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You can listen to Thursday’s gaggle in full below.
