Biden’s Energy Crackdown Ended Up Fueling Big Oil’s Record Profits

 The Biden administration raged Tuesday against record-breaking profits for U.S. oil companies like Exxon, even though its own policies have helped cause prices to rise, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The White House’s backlash came after major oil companies released their 2022 earnings, with Exxon and Chevron making $55.7 and $35.5 billion respectively. Experts told the DCNF that Biden’s efforts to curb the use of fossil fuels and reduce emissions have led to increased prices. 

“We think the White House’s oil policy has been paradoxical and disruptive, and has distorted markets in order to lower oil prices for short term political gain, without accepting that lowering emissions requires higher oil and gas price,” energy analyst Paul Sankey, founder of Sankey Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The White House accused these big companies, specifically Exxon, of being insensitive by raking in cash when everyday Americans struggle to buy gas.

“The latest earnings reports make clear that oil companies have everything they need, including record profits and thousands of unused but approved permits, to increase production, but they’re instead choosing to plow those profits into padding the pockets of executives and shareholders while House Republicans manufacture excuse after excuse to shield them from any accountability,” the White House said in a statement.

The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act added higher royalty rates, more regulations and various fees on fossil fuels. The drop in employees resulting from COVID-19 policies took an additional toll on these companies, increasing prices, according to The Heritage Foundation.

It’s the “same old, same old, with team Biden,” Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, told the DCNF. From the very first day of their administration, “they’ve made it absolutely clear that they’d like to stifle domestic energy production of oil and gas.”

Pyle went on to say that the White House should take the blame for the high prices, along with their “green lobby” friends. “This is exactly what they want,” he said, to discourage people from using traditional energy sources.

“Every time the price goes up, the very politicians who have inaccurately and openly made it harder to produce in the United States, then turn around and try to blame it on the producers that they themselves are creating,” Pyle told the DCNF. 

While the pandemic’s uncertainty might have caused the onset of rising oil prices, Biden’s crackdown on oil and other fossil fuels certainly amplified the problem, according to the Joint Economic Committee Republicans. These regulation-heavy policies also discouraged investors from giving to U.S. oil companies, the committee said.

Biden remains adamant that he has reduced prices and places the blame solely on “Big Oil.”

“The only thing stopping Big Oil from increasing production is their decision to pay shareholders billions instead of reinvesting profits. Instead of demanding accountability, Republican officials are blaming us. I’m doing my part to lower prices, it’s time Big Oil did theirs,” Biden tweeted in response.

“When Exxon and other large companies generate profits, it enables them to hire more workers, find and develop more oil, conduct research, and ensure a secure energy supply,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance.