November 27, 2023 - 9:00pm
Under President Joe Biden, the United States is pumping out more oil per day than at any point in history. His administration, which is struggling to convince voters that its economic agenda has been a success, has been uncharacteristically quiet about the achievement.
The US is currently producing 13.2 million barrels of crude oil per day, beating out the previous record set under Donald Trump, under whom the US became the world’s leading crude oil producer.
One might expect an increase in domestic oil production – which should bring down consumer prices, bolster the economy and decrease American dependence on foreign oil – to be cause for celebration. After all, this is the same White House that boasted of July 4th cookout prices dropping by $0.16 in 2021.
But for Biden, who campaigned on transitioning the country to renewable energy, declining energy costs are in tension with climate goals, posing the President with a conundrum.
For example, a White House fact sheet on “New Actions to Strengthen America’s Supply Chains, Lower Costs for Families, and Secure Key Sectors” released this morning made no mention of the record-breaking oil output, but did speak extensively about “clean energy” (the term gets seven mentions in the document). The White House did not respond to UnHerd’s inquiry about the development.
Notwithstanding the occasional tweet on declining gas prices, very little has come from the White House on American oil output. This theme has been a constant through the Biden presidency and before: on his first day in office, Biden imposed a series of new restrictions targeting the oil industry, which the White House labelled “Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” Throughout his campaign he referred to climate change as an existential threat and pledged to “hold oil executives responsible”. “I want you to look at my eyes,” he told one young voter on the campaign trail in 2019. “I guarantee you. I guarantee you. We’re going to end fossil fuel [sic].”
Part of this promise to “end fossil fuel[s]” has meant that the US has looked abroad for additional energy sources — often with unfriendly regimes. The President has, for instance, eased sanctions on Venezuela to allow for more oil exports and unsuccessfully solicited an output increase from Arab leaders while in office.
Only 31% of Americans said they were ready for the country to phase out fossil fuels, and 35% said we should never phase out fossil fuels, in a June poll from Pew Research. Republicans are more sceptical than Democrats, with 87% of GOP supporters believing that the US should use a combination of renewables and fossil fuels rather than phase out fossil fuels, compared to 51% of Democrats, the poll found.
Rising gas prices are a threat to any incumbent president, and the decision to pump more oil may be a tacit recognition of that fact. With the presidential election less than a year away, Joe Biden will be trying all that he can to ensure that voters won’t be feeling the pinch as they go to the ballot box.
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SubscribeIt’s not out of character for him. He depleted our Strategic Oil Reserves to save his party during the midterms. It does not mean that his party is facing the reality of the “green” movement, just that they are feeling electoral pressure right now. If he wins expect this to come to a stop.
Joe Biden is pumping out a lot more hot air and “natural” gas than he is oil. As usual, he is speaking out of both sides of his mouth and at least one other anatomical orifice at the same time. Biden is only trying to lower gasoline prices ahead of the election, whilst trying to keep the exo-nuts at bay. It cannot be done.
The whole reason Biden is in this quandary is that, after he called the Saudi crown prince a murderer during the run up to the 2020 election, he went as President to try to suck up to MLB and asked him to pump more Saudi oil. MLB was having none of it, and sent Mr. Biden away humiliated. He deserved it.
What happened to the robust fracking industry we once had here in the U.S.? Gone. Just look at the eco-wreck called “California”. You can buy pot here, but not light bulbs. California pumps lots of crude oil, but now has no more of those “dirty” refineries ( all shut down ), so we ship the crude out of state for refining, then ship the gasoline back. Wonder why we have the highest gasoline prices in the U.S, including Hawaii? California is bleeding industries and people. Even illegal immigration can’t offset the population declines.
( Though it has certainly degraded the quality of life here. )
It is a cautionary tale for progressivists and their utopian nostrums. But don’t tell Democrats that. Progress is their most important product! ( And their least popular, least helpful one. )
Presumably you don’t contend that the Saudi Crown Prince isn’t a murderer, and merely highlight that Biden calling him one might have been a bit unwise?
Something like calling XI a Dictator right after asking him for better relations. MBS and Xi are bad folk but better be sure you don’t have to go asking for anything from them after that. Basic common sense.
Common sense and Biden are rarely used in the same sentence.
“Dictator” is a generic term of abuse that can be applied to a lot of politicians, even democratically elected ones (I myself have applied it in to a former Australian State Premier, who shall remain nameless). “Murderer” is rather more specific.
I agree with your assessment but neither term leads the recipient to want to cooperate with you after you say it. Don’t expect help from them after that
Well, true. Politics does require a lot of hypocrisy. MBS is a thoroughly unpleasant character on all sorts of levels, but he does have rather a lot of oil.
Wonder why we have the highest gasoline prices in the U.S, including Hawaii?
And $1.19/gallon in taxes and fees.
If domestic oil production is better under Sundowner, why are gas prices 2x higher than when the Bad Orange Man was in office? Where are the extra barrels going to? Replenishing the severely depleted Strategic Petroleum Reserve?? Being shipped overseas to keep Uke tanks rolling??
Up in WA state we have some of the highest gasoline prices in the country, and that’s with at least one working refinery. Yet the Dems insist on banning new natural gas piping for new homes, while still talking about breaching our dams to supposedly save salmon runs. No plans for realistic alternatives (nuclear).
Sundowner’s energy policy has been a shambles since Day 1. His handlers will have to do far more to lower energy prices than they’re willing to do.
the decision to pump more oil
Assumes information not in evidence. Biden stumbled into higher oil production, it was never a conscious choice.
More generally, is anything conscious with Biden?
Would be interesting to see where the increase is coming from – increased efficiency, development of new fields etc??!
I suspect it’s all of the above, but I’d like to see those numbers as well. It could also be a function of global demand. When I drive up to Chicago I see numerous small oil wells dotting the farm fields. Usually they just sit there because they are very small wells pulling from tiny deposits, and they cost more to operate than the oil they generate is worth…until the price goes up enough. That’s often the case with resource extraction and not just oil. Some deposits are easier and cheaper to tap than others, so price becomes the determining factor in what does or doesn’t get extracted at any given time. In that case, geopolitics may be the real culprit. Europe losing access to Russian resources combined with the Saudi’s refusal to increase production has probably locked in a very favorable outlook for American oil producers for a significant period.
Maybe the early-onset dementia and brain fog is all just very clever cos play after all.
How much higher would North American oil and natural gas production be without President Zombie’s war on fossil fuels? If the Keystone XL Pipeline hadn’t been canceled, we would have 510,000 more barrels a day, just for starters. Then there’s all true federal land that hasn’t been leased for drilling.
In general, US oil production is up in spite of, not because of, President Big Guy’s policies.
With politicians, stated reasons may or may not be consistent with actual reasons. The stated reason for not drilling on federal lands might be climate change related, but a more pragmatic reason might be to leave a known strategic reserve that could be tapped in the event of, for example, war with China and Russia, or a Saudi oil embargo, etc. Producing more energy is good, regardless of how that’s achieved, and having fallback options is also good, especially with the geopolitical climate being what it is. The Keystone pipeline could similarly be regarded as keeping reserves. The oil sands reserves in Alberta are not going anywhere, and could be used in a time of greater need than the present. The fact that oil production increased despite these lends credence to the fact that maybe we didn’t need those resources right now so strategically saving them for later might be a wiser choice.
Good boy 🙂
Indeed record oil output but still inadequate. At issue are exploitation on public lands that Biden has stopped. As production slows new wells are needed so there are always delays to be managed.
We need managers who understand the totality of energy needs. Energy is not an Amazon delivery.
Good.
I don’t really care what the blowhard politicians say or what they put on old man Biden’s teleprompter for the consumption of the masses. What I’m interested in are policies and actions, and the Biden administration’s policies have been pragmatic. Increasing domestic energy production is a worthy achievement, with or without oil. Whether or not fossil fuels are eliminated, the energy generated, inconsistent though it may be, will still contribute to keeping prices down, and that’s good. It’s not ideal. I’d prefer a more anti-corporate, domestically focused, non-interventionist administration myself, and I’d prefer that our reshoring efforts were broader and less obviously military, but things are better now than they were before and mostly during the Trump administration at least. The level of competence displayed and the military flavor leads me to believe much of American policy is dictated from the Pentagon these days. It’s not my first choice, but it’s better than being run from Wall Street like the three administrations prior to Trump.
Donald Trump managed the global oil market with his Twitter account. Whenever the price reached levels which he considered to be politically inconvenient, he used the bully pulpit of the presidency to force both domestic producers and OPEC states to reduce it.
Biden has proved to be the better conservative. He has allowed the price to rise so that producers have been incentivised to produce more, invest more, and innovate more. Which leads to lower prices in the longer term.
While consumers have been incentivised to invest more in efficiency and consume more frugally. Freeing up more for export. And every barrel sold by the good old US of A is a barrel not sold by Putin, Maduro, or any number of mysoginistic Arab states.
Trump always encouraged increased production of oil.
You are delusional.