As gas prices remain high for many Americans despite the falling price of oil, President Biden is calling out oil and gas companies that are continuing to profit at the expense of American consumers.
CNN: Biden demands faster drop in gas prices as oil tumbles
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- "Oil prices are decreasing, gas prices should too," Biden said on Twitter. "Last time oil was $96 a barrel, gas was $3.62 a gallon. Now it's $4.31. Oil and gas companies shouldn't pad their profits at the expense of hardworking Americans."
- If prices stay this high, consumers will pay $165 billion more over the course of 2022 than they did in 2019, according to Moody's Analytics. Put another way: Annual average spending on gasoline would climb by roughly $1,300 per US household, Moody's told CNN. The senior White House official suggested gas station owners are not passing along savings to consumers as quickly as they could. "This is using price power in a way that is not particularly fair from the perspective of the consumer," the official told CNN.
- Biden's focus on this issue comes after House Democrats wrote a letter last week urging Congressional leadership to immediately investigate and hold hearings on "alleged price gouging within the oil and gas industry." Democrats also introduced a Big Oil Windfalls Profit Tax that would aim to "curb profiteering" by oil companies.
Source: FL Dems Press Release 3/16/22
Oil imports account for about 20 percent of the U.S. supply.
President Joe Biden’s ban on Russian oil strikes at one of the largest oil exporters to the U.S., a move that could have wide impact even though imports account for a small portion of the overall U.S. oil supply.
Russian crude oil and petroleum product exports to the U.S. represent 8 percent of all its imported oil and less than 2 percent of the U.S. supply, an NBC News analysis of U.S. and European oil data found. This is a far cry from European nations: About half import most of their oil, and of that imported oil, an average of 20 percent comes from Russia.