With only six months to go before the election, President Joe Biden’s strategy to lower gasoline prices is in jeopardy.
The administration’s soft approach to sanctions on oil from Iran, Russia and Venezuela has been key to its efforts to tame fuel costs. But that leniency is becoming politically riskier: Iran’s attack on Israel has intensified pressure on Biden to crack down on crude exports from the Islamic Republic. The OPEC member produces approximately 3 million barrels a day, equivalent to about 3% of global supply. And though Iranian crude might not find its way into US gasoline tanks, its presence generally helps to limit price gains.
Biden doesn’t want to call attention to rising energy costs, but he’s taking several behind-the-scenes steps to help keep oil supplies abundant and make sure gasoline doesn’t hit the touchy $4 per gallon mark.
The Department of Energy, for instance, recently canceled two major purchases of oil for the US strategic Reserve, citing high prices. Biden released about 230 million barrels of oil from the reserve in 2022 and 2023, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent prices soaring and gasoline peaked at $5 per gallon. The DOE began slowly refilling the reserve last summer.
Read more at Bloomberg.com
What Are Your Thoughts?
