(DCWatchdog.com) – President Joe Biden has warned oil and natural gas companies not to take advantage of Hurricane Ian as an excuse to spike gasoline prices.
As Florida felt the hurricane’s impact, Biden insisted that any effect on oil production caused by the storm could be “no excuse for price increases at the pump” that would “gouge the American people.”
The Democrat president’s popularity has been hit hard by sky-high gas prices and overall inflation this year. Still, in recent statements, he has emphasized a slow but steady gas price decline over the past few weeks.
He now argued that Hurricane Ian might cause a “small, temporary” impact on oil production, but Big Oil must not allow that to affect end consumers.
“If gas companies try to use this storm to raise prices at the pump, I will ask officials to look into whether price gouging is going on,” Biden declared.
“America’s watching. The industry should do the right thing,” he argued, as cited by The Washington Times.
He noted his administration had estimated Hurricane Ian would affect the production of “only about 190,000 barrels a day,” which presented “less than 2% of the United States daily production.”
Regular gasoline reached a record average price of $5.01 per gallon in June and has since then by about 25%.
Yet, the “Democrats are bracing for an uphill battle for voters in the upcoming midterm elections as the administration attempts to wrangle soaring costs affecting average Americans,” the report pointed out.
It noted further that Biden’s latest warning to Big Oil was a follow-up on his argument with the oil and gas industry over the summer.
The president has accused the oil companies of raking in gigantic profits at the expense of American consumers. However, critics of his administration have blamed his green energy focus for causing the gas price spike by discouraging investment in America’s refining capacities.
In his latest comments on Wednesday, Biden once again criticized the oil and gas industry.
“They should be moving more quickly now to bring down the price at the pump,” the president insisted.
“There’s too much of a delay between the price of a barrel of [oil] being produced and the price of gasoline at the pump,” he added.
Biden warns Big Oil not to use Hurricane Ian as excuse for raising priceshttps://t.co/NGVyjUIdvL pic.twitter.com/dyt6E8bUqA
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) September 28, 2022
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