President Biden Announces New Efforts To Reduce Gas Prices

As The Hill reported, last week President Joe Biden announced a series of energy-related actions and policy agenda items that he hopes will reduce consumer gas prices. These actions included releasing more than 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in December.

The president said the federal government would purchase oil to refill the SPR once it falls to about $70 per barrel. President Biden could take further action in this regard later since he retains the authority to release more oil if prices rise further.

The president also called for “responsibly increas[ing] American oil production without delaying or deferring our transition to clean energy.” He noted that domestic oil production currently is around 12 million barrels per day and that the United States continues to export more petroleum products than it imports.

President Biden also called on Congress to pass energy permitting reform measures that would speed up the review process for energy projects that require permits.

As Connecting the Dots reported earlier this fall, these reforms are critical for increasing domestic production. Manufacturers and industrial metals companies have been urging the president for these actions. Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots as Congress continues to consider permitting reform.