An oil executive said on Thursday that Washington is “working against us, not with us” in terms of increasing supply.
“We’ve got a good economy. Demand is strong,” explained Dan Eberhart, CEO of Denver-based drilling services company Canary to Fox Business. “We need more supply to bring the price down, and the administration just keeps putting roadblocks in our way to do that.”
Eberhart also rejected Democratic lawmakers’ argument that oil companies are engaging in price-gouging.
“I don’t think that’s true at all,” Eberhart said. “We’re bidding for work against our competitors and other companies… We’ve got all kinds of supply chain issues, and inflation in our supply chain as well.”
Eberhart listed several policies that the Biden administration could reverse in order to increase energy supply and cut costs. “The problem is not enough supply, and the administration keeps doing things around that,” the executive said, “not working with the industry to increase supply.”
“The SEC compliance issue on climate disclosure is an additional regulatory burden; moratorium on drilling on federal lands is an additional burden,” Eberhart continued, “canceling the pipelines Keystone, Dakota Access and there’s six others, it’s a regulatory burden.”
“I think the decisions are dumb,” he added, “and don’t take my word for it. Ask voters in November. I think we’re going to see the answer.”
Indeed, The Daily Wire reported earlier this week that President Joe Biden’s approval rating continues to trend downward — reaching the lowest point of his 15-month tenure in the White House. Of particular concern for voters is the state of the economy, with 47% of respondents to a CNBC-All America survey saying the economy is in “poor” condition, and another 35% saying it is in “only fair” condition.
As of Thursday evening, the average price of regular gas is $4.074, according to AAA. President Biden has drawn criticism from conservatives over the high gas prices.
“Over the past 15 months, we’ve seen inflation grow higher than any time in the last 40 years. Perhaps the most painful driver of inflation has been the skyrocketing cost of gasoline at the pump,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
“When Joe Biden took the oath of office, the average retail price of gasoline was $2.38 a gallon. Today, it is $4.23 a gallon,” he continued. “In some parts of the country, the price has crossed $6.90 a gallon. This was not an accident. It was not an unintended side effect. Nor was it principally the result of the war in Ukraine. This was the result of the Green New Deal zealots in the Biden administration. They told the American people they would do this. And they kept their promise. And now, the Democrats have discovered they have a problem.”