US President Joe Biden Urges Oil Companies To Lower Gas Prices for American Families Who Struggle with Record Levels of Inflation

On Monday, President Joe Biden praised the global decline in oil prices while pleading with energy companies to reduce consumer gas prices.

The American standard, WTI Crude, was trading at around $76.52 per barrel on Monday after declining significantly over the previous three months from a high of $122.10 on June 7.

Biden Tells Oil Companies 'Bring Down Prices'

Additionally, gas prices have progressively decreased over the previous three months, with the average gallon of petrol costing $3.725 on Monday, down from a year-high of $5.016 on June 14.

Crude oil prices dominate what you pay for gas at the pump, but refining expenses, state, local, and federal taxes, as well as costs associated with distribution, such rent and staff compensation, all have an impact.

While some refiners own and run retail outlets directly, many gas stations are held by independent enterprises that pay for gas from refiners and market it to the general public.

In June, Biden decided to write to oil and gas companies requesting that they cut gas prices due to "historically high refinery profit margins," according to Fox Business. At the time, industry leaders retaliated against Biden, claiming that other costs related to refining oil have also increased sharply in recent months. Biden's remarks on Monday echoed that letter.

He declared that he had given his council the job of finding strategies to boost competitiveness and save costs. He concentrated in particular on bank overdraft costs, mobile phone termination fees, and airline rebooking fees.

Republicans have pointed the finger at Biden for the price hike that has occurred when supply chain constraints brought an end to pandemic closures last year.

Biden Recently Blames Private Industries

In response, Biden has attempted to blame private industry and instances of price gouging. However, he asserted that the US was more equipped than many other nations to deal with growing prices, as per Daily Mail.

On the subject of the economy, Biden and his colleagues have been attempting to convey some "good news." They cite increasing employment rates, growing salaries, and a sustained decline in petrol costs.

In August, US oil futures decreased 9.2%. According to figures from the American Automobile Association, gas prices fell by 9.2% in the same month. However, as Biden pointed out, there is still a wide disparity in gas prices across the nation; western areas have far higher prices as a result of a lack of refining capacity.

The president's sentiments reaffirm remarks he made earlier this year as US gasoline prices increased and reached more than $5 per gallon in June. The White House put a lot of effort into trying to stop the trend, which included enormous releases of petroleum that had been stored and diplomatic outreach to Saudi Arabia in pursuit of more production.

Since that high, gas prices have decreased by more than $1 on average, in part because to the drop in international oil prices that coincided with China's COVID-19 shutdown and concerns about the potential repercussions of a worldwide economic recession.

After marginally rising last week, there are indications that US gas prices have bottomed out. For Biden, doing so runs the danger of making the topic of gas prices a hot political topic leading up to the midterm elections in November, Bloomberg via Yahoo reported.