As a group of the world’s largest oil-producing countries prepares to discuss oil production targets, the White House touted its own efforts to cool gasoline prices and help balance the global energy market.
Following production boosts from the United States and other producers and the release of 1 million barrels per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, President Joe Biden’s press secretary said the U.S. is experiencing the fastest gas price decline in over a decade, falling 81 cents per gallon since its peak in June. But prices remain high.
“Gas prices have now been falling for almost seven straight weeks,” Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the start of a White House press briefing Monday.
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Gas prices soared to record levels after Western leaders sought to cull their purchases of Russian fossil fuels in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, prompting a reckoning for Biden and Democrats in advance of the midterm elections.
According to the AAA, the national average gas price is $4.21 per gallon, up from $3.17 one year ago.
The Biden administration’s messaging push comes ahead of an OPEC+ meeting that will prove the first test of Biden’s efforts to persuade major energy producers in the Gulf to increase their production output.
Members of the OPEC+ coalition will meet Wednesday to discuss whether to increase oil production targets for September, an announcement that will be closely watched after Biden teased the prospect last month.
Asked about the Biden administration’s expectations from OPEC+, Jean-Pierre said Monday that the White House “would leave them to answer that.” The U.S. is not a member of the group, and Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers have largely resisted pressure to pump more oil for reasons they deem political, not supply-driven.
The forthcoming decision by several of the world’s largest oil producers comes on the heels of Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, in which the president discussed energy and security policies with the kingdom he once vowed to punish.
Biden said in Jeddah that he expected “further steps” on increasing oil supply following his trip, with Wednesday’s OPEC+ meeting the first test of whether the president’s outreach will pay off.
At the time, Biden’s comments were quickly tempered by Saudi leaders, who said supply decisions would be calibrated by supply assessments, not on the basis of market “hysteria.”
“We are a long-term producer of energy,” said Adel al Jubeir, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, during a meeting with reporters in Jeddah. “If there’s too much supply, we remove it. If there’s not enough supply, we increase it.”
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He continued: “We base that on fundamentals — not on speculation, not on hysteria, not on geopolitics.”
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom would increase its oil production capacity to 13 million barrels per day but no further, indicating that to do so would risk inflation.
