Remember earlier this year when President Biden went to Saudi Arabia and fist-bumped Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (or MBS as he’ll be known from here on in)? As gas prices were rising at the time (and they are again) Biden made the trip to basically beg MBS and OPEC to ramp up their oil output, even though the White House denies that was the purpose of the trip. The answer for Biden has come back loud and clear:
The OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries has decided to sharply cut production to support sagging oil prices. The move could deal the struggling global economy another blow and raise politically sensitive pump prices for U.S. drivers. https://t.co/FurWz44jsW
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 5, 2022
Wow, it’s a good thing Biden and his merry band of “green” nuts are going out of their way to scrap America’s energy independence!
And before I get to this next part, Biden’s go-to domestic energy “strategy” has been to raid the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is being drained and not refilled:
https://twitter.com/EddieZipperer/status/1577658417807859712
And the Strategic Reserve is about to get even more depleted. Why? Because OPEC has denied Biden’s request for them to increase output and gas prices are back on the rise heading into the midterms. That means the Strategic Reserve is going to be tapped again:
White House after OPEC+ decision: “At the President’s direction, the Department of Energy will deliver another 10 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the market next month, continuing the historic releases the President ordered in March” pic.twitter.com/byLmmPY4tO
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) October 5, 2022
This is, of course, all about midterm election panic:
But Biden’s attempt to circumvent the spike in gases prices expected to hit the market in time for the midterm elections may not prove all that effective.
In March, Biden said he would release 1 million barrels of oil a day to counter record high gas prices amid a global economic recession, inflation and disruption to the market caused by the war in Ukraine.
The release of roughly 180 million barrels of oil from the U.S. petroleum reserves was expected to end Oct. 31.
The purpose of the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve was not to save Democrats from the disastrous consequences of their own policies, and yet here we are.
Did the Biden WH just discover that a modern economy can't run on wind and solar energy? This comes on the heels of its discovery that buying gas from Putin doesn't make him more conciliatory. My hope grows that it will discover that the JCPOA is also based on false assumptions. https://t.co/5Os90xUgDy
— Mike (@Doranimated) October 5, 2022
Rep. Steve Scalise sums up where things currently stand:
Let’s be clear about what happened:
1. Biden destroyed America's oil/gas industry and made us dependent on OPEC again.
2. Biden begged OPEC to produce more oil.
3. OPEC is doing the opposite—cutting output by 2 million barrels a day.
Total failure. OPEC is laughing at him.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 5, 2022
Now the Biden administration is depleting the Strategic Reserve. What could possibly go wrong?
If Democrats hadn't destroyed American energy independence, OPEC planning to cut their oil production wouldn't be such a major issue for us.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 5, 2022
Correct. OPEC’s decision shouldn’t have a huge impact on the U.S., but it will now. When Biden took office he promised that the days of Trump’s “America first” policies were over, and he wasn’t kidding.
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Related:
US Strategic Petroleum Reserve drops to its lowest level since 1987
