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Joe Biden sent a letter to seven of the biggest oil companies Wednesday demanding action to quell surging gas prices
He is setting up an emergency meeting on the issue and asking for an explanation whether there has been a loss in oil refining capacity
The president threatened to use ’emergency powers’ to take further action
The administration continues to blame rising gas costs on the ‘Putin price hike’ resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and on greedy oil companies
Biden claims oil refiners are purposefully not increasing production to meet the demand so they can charge more per gallon
The average nationwide price of gas hit $5.00 for the first time ever on Saturday
Joe Biden is calling on seven of the top oil companies to do something to help quell surging gas prices after accusing them of intentionally exacerbating the strain on Americans’ pocketbooks after the average price per gallon surpassed $5.00. The president is sending letters Wednesday to Marathon Petroleum Corp., Valero Energy Corp., ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Chevron, BP, and Shell to demand action on lowering gas prices at the corporate level and account for the surge. In a letter to Exxon obtained by Axios, Biden wrote that the difference ‘of more than 15% at the pump is the result of the historically high profit margins for refining oil into gasoline, diesel and other refined products.’ ‘Since the beginning of the year, refiners’ margins for refining gasoline and diesel have tripled, and are currently at their highest levels ever recorded,’ he added in the letter to Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods. Biden is also threatening to use his ’emergency power’ if oil companies do not take action to lower prices for a gallon of gas. ‘Government tools and emergency authorities to increase refinery capacity and output in the near term, and to ensure that every region of this country is appropriately supplied,’ he wrote. ‘Already, I have invoked emergency powers to execute the largest Strategic Petroleum Reserve release in history, expand access to E15 (gasoline with 15% ethanol), and authorize the use of the Defense Production Act to provide reliable inputs into energy production.’ ‘I am prepared to use all tools at my disposal, as appropriate, to address barriers to providing Americans affordable, secure energy supply,’ he added.
