Biden to oil companies: “Lower prices”

PRESIDENT DEMANDS THE COMPANIES TO INCREASE PRODUCTION

Washington / Agencia Efe

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The president of the United States, Joe Biden, urged the country’s oil companies to take “immediate” action to increase production and lower prices, at a time when the price of gasoline is at record highs. The president expressed his requests in multiple letters, made public, and sent to the presidents of ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP America, Shell USA, Phillips 66, Marathon and Valero.

The letters represent an escalation in Biden’s pressure campaign on the oil companies. Biden accuses these companies of keeping production low while demand remains high and prices rise. In recent weeks it is reaching figures never seen before and hurting American consumers. “The crisis facing American families requires immediate attention,” Biden said.

Gasoline at reasonable prices

The president continued, “Your companies need to work with my administration immediately to come up with concrete, short-term solutions to address this crisis,” he wrote. Biden announced that Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will hold an emergency meeting soon to address the issue and asked the oil companies to make their proposals before that appointment.

She also warned that his government is willing to use the “appropriate” tools to increase energy production and ensure that gasoline is available at reasonable prices throughout the country. The average price of a gallon of gasoline, 3.78 liters, in the US reached 5 dollars, a historical record indicating that the country has reached its highest inflation in forty years.

Exxon Earnings

In line with his previous statements, Biden considered that the “main culprit” for the rise in prices is the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his war on Ukraine; but he also assured that the oil companies are passing the additional cost of energy production to consumers, instead of assuming part of that cost.

“It is not acceptable that, in times of war, the margins of the oil companies are being passed directly to American families,” the president stressed. Biden has already changed the tone of his claims in a speech at the port of Los Angeles, in which he said: “Exxon has made more profit than God this year.” Gas prices are expected to continue to rise during the summer months when Americans use their vehicles more to travel.

Citizenship for dreamers

President Biden asked Congress to pass a law to allow access to citizenship for the thousands of undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers.” The president made reference to these young people who came to the country as children after a decade of protection they received from the Obama administration.

Thanks to the DACA program, it was possible to stop the deportation of almost a million dreamers. “It’s time to give them the permanent protections they deserve,” Biden said in a video shared on Twitter in which he recalled how in his State of the Union address last March he called for the passage of immigration reform.