Gas prices have quietly been on the rise over the summer as President Joe Biden and his administration have touted the merits of his “Bidenomics” agenda.
U.S. oil prices jumped by nearly 4% last week, and the per-gallon price at the pump hit a national average of $3.75 Monday, the highest recorded average since November 2022, according to AAA and the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Continued increases may pose a new headache for Biden, who is promoting the “Bidenomics” agenda ahead of his 2024 run for reelection.
Global oil prices are up 16% since late June, and they have increased for each of the past five weeks, according to CNN. Prices may only continue to rise in August and September as Saudi Arabia, Russia and other OPEC+ members undertake production cuts equivalent to about 1.5% of global supply, announced in early July.
The OPEC+ production cuts have contributed significantly to the price increases, according to Natasha Kaneva, J.P. Morgan’s head of global commodities strategy. This summer’s heat has also reduced domestic oil refining capacity while boosting consumer demand for energy, Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service, said, according to USA Today.
There is a gap of about 500,000 barrels per day between global oil supply and global demand, according to a July report by the International Energy Agency. Biden administration officials are reportedly watching the rising gas prices “very carefully,” according to CNN.
Didn’t Joe Biden say gas prices were gonna start declining? https://t.co/rSL1f49UrC
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 2, 2022
Biden has touted his “Bidenomics” agenda as a successful endeavor to “[grow] the economy from the middle out and bottom up,” but only 38% of Americans approve of Biden’s economy while more than 57% disapprove, according to July polling data from Real Clear Politics.
Biden and top administration officials went around the country in June and July to promote the “Bidenomics” tax-and-spend agenda, and Biden is set to rely on “Bidenomics” as a key selling point in his reelection bid, according to The Guardian.
The rising prices may signal that the country is headed back for a sustained period of higher costs at the pump, not unlike the summer of 2022 when average prices peaked at an all-time high around $5 per gallon in June, according to data from AAA. Biden attempted to tame that crisis by releasing tens of millions of barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to bring down oil prices ahead of the November 2022 midterm elections.
While the SPR has not been drained entirely, the Biden administration has not yet refilled it to pre-drawdown levels, with experts saying it may take “decades” to refill it.
Last summer’s oil price spike exacerbated inflationary pressures, leaving American consumers with higher costs to pay and causing significant political problems for the Biden administration. Republicans slammed the administration for its “reckless” energy policies and the spiking gas prices, which ate into the pocketbooks of many Americans already dealing with inflation.
The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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