White House Adviser Says There’s An ‘Energy Crisis,’ Doubles Down On Calls For Boosted Foreign Oil, Gas Production
A top White House official said there was an “energy crisis” in the U.S. and urged foreign fossil fuel producers to ramp up production to quell it.
“We see this as an energy crisis because this is not just natural gas prices that have been elevated, but crude oil is at very high levels at the moment … and gasoline prices in the United States today are at seven-year highs as natural gas peaks at the same time,” White House energy adviser Amos Hochstein remarked during a virtual event hosted by the International Energy Forum on Thursday. “So I think this is an energy crisis.”
Hochstein, who served as an energy adviser in the State Department during the Obama administration, added that foreign energy producers were responsible for balancing the oil and gas markets. He also hinted President Joe Biden would address the issue during upcoming international summits in Rome and Glasgow, Scotland.
“Some of the solutions that I think you’ll hear the president talk about are similar in both the oil and gas and that is that producers have a responsibility to ensure that oil markets and gas markets are balanced,” Hochstein said on Thursday.
Hochstein further noted that the price of natural gas dipped earlier in the day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the state-owned firm Gazprom to increase supply into Europe. Gas prices declined nearly 10% after Putin’s announcement, The Wall Street Journal reported.
WATCH:
Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved Gazprom’s gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, potentially making Europe even more dependent on Putin for its energy. Russia provides 41.1% of Europe’s natural gas and 26.9% of its crude oil, the largest share of any other producer, according to European Union data.
Energy costs — including heating and gasoline prices — have surged in both Europe and the U.S. over the last several months. But while the U.S. has access to many of its own oil and gas resources, the Biden administration has repeatedly asked Middle Eastern and Russian producers to boost output to solve the issue.
“[Europe’s energy crisis is] a real warning for American consumers and the world, that if you don’t create your own supply at home, you’re dependent on supplies from regimes that don’t necessarily have your interests at heart,” American Petroleum Institute (API) President Mike Sommers said during a House hearing Thursday.
“And I think the Europeans, and other parts of the world, are finding out the importance of creating supply to ensure that we have access to affordable and reliable energy for decades and decades to come here in this country,” he continued.
The API and other fossil fuel industry trade groups have advocated against several Biden administration policies that it argued would make the U.S. less energy independent.
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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Joe Biden is a perpetual walking, talking human energy crisis.
You really can’t get a greater disconnect in the American electorate than Biden shutting down American petroleum and natural gas assets, creating an “energy crisis” with prices of natural gas and gasoline skyrocketing, so Biden tries to get foreign producers to increase production and supplies, and then advocating an infrastructure bill with large amounts of social spending so there’s more money available, primarily borrowed money and money from increased taxes to pay for it all.
The media and consumers still are enamored with Biden and think he’s some kind of political genius, media largely being even more supportive and less questioning as the crisis deepens.
I really don’t think there is any realistic hope for the country to get through this without economic and social consequences, considering the widespread support Biden’ policies have in the media and in the general population. There is absolutely no legacy media pushback on any of Biden’s policies and in fact, vicious media attacks on anyone who questions or opposes Biden’s policies.
Mr. Hochstein with all due respect (which you are not due any) you are either ignorant, stupid, delusional, or all three. There was no energy crisis the past four years, but suddenly in the last 9 months we are in the middle of one. Now what do you think is the direct cause of that? Foreign oil and gas producing countries owe us nothing yet our incompetent leadership is begging for them to pump more. A 5th grader could figure this “crisis” out.