The Biden administration, which began its reign by turning off the spigot of oil flowing from North American sources, is now begging Middle Eastern nations for anything they can spare.
The White House on Wednesday released a statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in which Sullivan said the United States needs foreign nations to bail it out.
“Higher gasoline costs, if left unchecked, risk harming the ongoing global recovery. The price of crude oil has been higher than it was at the end of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic,” the statement said.
The American Automobile Association on Wednesday said the average price of gasoline in the United States is $3.185 per gallon. That’s more than $1 higher than the average price of $2.183 from a year ago.
“While OPEC+ recently agreed to production increases, these increases will not fully offset previous production cuts that OPEC+ imposed during the pandemic until well into 2022. At a critical moment in the global recovery, this is simply not enough,” the statement continued.
“President [Joe] Biden has made clear that he wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump.”
“Although we are not a party to OPEC, the United States will always speak to international partners regarding issues of significance that affect our national economic and security affairs, in public and private. We are engaging with relevant OPEC+ members on the importance of competitive markets in setting prices. Competitive energy markets will ensure reliable and stable energy supplies, and OPEC+ must do more to support the recovery,” the statement said.
Biden, who campaigned on the need to put climate change policies ahead of energy independence, in January stopped construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was designed to increase the flow of oil from Canada to the United States, and also called for a halt to new oil and gas leases on public lands, according to CNBC.
The dissonance between stopping the flow of oil with one hand and calling for an increase in oil flow with the other brought out the critics on Twitter.
US senator @JohnCornyn in response to the statement calling on opec to boost output #OOTT #US #Opec pic.twitter.com/1pQEyoUdqj
— Amena Bakr (@Amena__Bakr) August 11, 2021
Joe Biden is asking OPEC to increase production to lower gas prices, which forces us to increase our reliance on foreign oil.
We wouldn’t have to be beholden to Middle East oil if Biden hadn’t shut down Keystone, limited domestic production, and killed oil and gas jobs.
— Cassandra (@CassyWearsHeels) August 11, 2021
Trump helped usher in an era on energy independence. Biden flushed it down the toilet and now is groveling to OPEC to fix his mistakes. Pathetic https://t.co/goQPNh2PxG
— Chris Bentley ?? (@chrisbentley13) August 11, 2021
In an analysis of Biden’s energy policies on National Review, Jakob Puckett wrote that Biden “wants other countries to do the dirty work of drilling the oil for him.”
Puckett noted that Biden is playing into the hands of some of America’s rivals.
“Setting up a market in which OPEC can profitably sell more oil effectively creates a market opportunity for OPEC Plus (of which Russia is a part) and Iran. Both countries pose a strategic challenge to America — a challenge that is, in no small part, funded by those countries’ hydrocarbon riches,” he wrote.
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The revenue Russia gets from oil sales “helps underwrite aggression in Ukraine, in addition to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in America and its allies, and emboldens reckless behavior by autocrats aligned with Moscow in sensitive parts of the world,” he wrote.
“Offering OPEC Plus an opportunity to make more money is a head-scratcher. Russia and Iran would benefit from increased oil revenue; it would assist, too, in the funding of activities that have created foreign-policy headaches for years.
“But perhaps this shouldn’t be too surprising given that President Biden has already canceled the Keystone XL pipeline while giving Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline a thumbs-up — a move that will simultaneously increase Europe’s dangerous reliance on Russian oil and hit Ukraine financially.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.