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Oil Companies Slam Biden For Blaming Them For High Prices, ‘We Are Not Setting That Price’

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America’s oil and gas companies have had enough of taking President Joe Biden’s blame game for high gas prices as several spokespeople for those companies went on Fox News to lambast the president for blaming them for the spike in prices.

On Wednesday, during an appearance on “Fox and Friends,” Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, basically told Joe Biden he was going to have to choose one or the other, Putin or oil companies, to blame.

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Choose One

Sgamma did not hold back, telling the “Fox and Friends” hosts, 

“Which is it? You can’t blame Putin and us at the same time. Let’s just say that we don’t make prices, rather we take them. Low prices cause us to suffer, and higher prices follow. This is due to the global oil price. However, we do not set that price. We would love to produce more in the United States and help to bring those prices down.”

Sgamma added, “Demand has risen, we’ve had the price shock of Russia invading Ukraine. There are various factors that go into the price of oil, but we are not setting that price.”

Joe Biden was able to point the finger at Vladimir Putin for rising gas prices as soon after Russia invaded Ukraine. Recently, however, he began to blame oil companies for padding their profits.

Recently, the President tweeted:

Dan Naatz, executive vice president of the Independent Petroleum Association, pushed back on Biden’s claims, “The frustration starts with the administration. From the very beginning, the President and the Biden administration have had a relentless assault on American oil and natural gas producers.” 

He also added:

“Increased regulations, talk of taxes, our members get frustrated when the administration, Jen Psaki just seem to say, now that we are facing an energy crisis, go out and produce like the snap of a finger. This is not feasible and we must do much more work as we are under constant attack. And you want to start a dialogue with the administration to address the challenges.”

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If Biden Is Right, Why Aren’t Oil Companies Pumping More Oil?

Joe Biden may think all that oil companies need to do in order to boost output is to flip a switch. But he’d be mistaken.

It’s not all about that. Axios explains that they need to spend more on drilling and exploration. This has been made more difficult by supply chain problems and high input costs (ie inflation).

Costs of components such as steel and labor have been on the rise.

The cost of inputs has risen just like consumer goods have – producer cost inflation has gone up.

For the first time in 49 years, America has been a net exporter for crude oil and other petroleum products. 

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Doing The ‘Math’ of Renewable Energy

Add to that, many American energy companies have invested in “renewable energy” ideas. But as with most things labeled “green,” that has come at a price.

BP made a $20 million investment in StoreDot (Israeli company that develops fast-charging batteries) in 2018. FreeWire in America, which provides fast charging infrastructure for electric cars, received $5 Million from BP.

Shell invested $2 million in 2016 to set up low-carbon electricity and energy generation businesses. The green and renewable energy market has attracted other oil and gas companies. 

Every bit of capital that goes to renewable energy is capital that isn’t going to increasing oil production, obviously.

Joe Biden vowed a whole host of oil production restraints during a Democratic debate. 

You can see it for yourself