The Biden administration, which accuses US refiners of reaping juicy profits on the backs of motorists, summoned industry leaders on Thursday to discuss the best way to lower the price of gasoline.
Soaring prices at the pump, a symbol of the general rise in prices, weighs down the popularity of the Democratic president, who regularly criticizes the oil giants for getting rich without making efforts to solve the problem.
We are going to have a serious conversation with [les raffineurs] to see what can be done, said Wednesday the Minister of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, during a press briefing at the White House.
We know that six refineries have closed since 2020 […] and we want to ask them: “is it possible to get some of it back on the road, to increase production?”she added.
These groups make big profits. So it’s not a question of fundingnoted Ms. Granholm. But maybe they need something else?
Chevron, Phillips 66, BP as well as the powerful oil industry federation APIs confirmed their attendance at this meeting.
Joe Biden also included ExxonMobil, Marathon, Valero and Shell last week in a letter calling on refiners to take action. immediate. Make margins historically high by making the Americans pay is not not acceptablehe then accused.
The oil sector fought back.
American refineries are already operating at 94% of their capacity, had retorted theAPIs and the association representing refiners AFPM.
Prices are set at the global level, they also argued, while if some sites have closed, it is to be transformed into refineries capable of producing biofuel.
On Thursday, the API, the AFPM and about twenty other organizations in the sector also invited Joe Biden to come and visit wells, refineries and oil pipelines in the United States before going to the Middle East in July, where he should try to convince the Saudis to pump more.
Solutions are under our feet, and we urge you to reconsider the immense potential of American oil and gas resourcesthey write.
Meeting without significant effect, according to an expert
Thursday’s meeting between administration officials and refiners probably won’t produce anything significantargues Andrew Lebow, specialist in the energy sector for Commodity Research Group.
If refiners could produce more now, they would because of the incredible margins they can make, he said. Perhaps production will increase a little in the coming weeks once a few operational problems are resolved, he suggests.
For Kevin Book of the firm ClearView, it is rather the tone of the meeting which could have an effect. Talking quietly with the sector will make it easier to unlock barrels than to tire it out constantly in the public square.
The government can help by facilitating, for example, the hiring of truck drivers and the supply of sand for the exploitation of shale oil, he says.
” But if the meeting ends on a sour note, the impasse could worsen. “
Oil prices were inflated first by a strong rebound in demand after the COVID-19 pandemic and then by the sanctions imposed on Russia, a major crude producer, after the invasion of Ukraine.
In early June, the gallon of gasoline in the United States climbed above the symbolic threshold of US$5 per gallon for the first time. It has come down a bit since then, but is still a long way from the US$3 of a year ago.
To drive down prices at the pump, Joe Biden on Wednesday asked Congress to temporarily suspend the 18-cent federal gas tax this summer, a request that, however, has drawn skepticism from many experts that the move would only increase demand.
France Media Agency
Source: Radio-Canada
