OPEC Cuts Show Biden's Energy Failures Ahead of Midterms

What happened: President Joe Biden frantically lobbied the Saudis—a country he called a “pariah”—to pump more oil to lower global gas prices and replenish American oil reserves. The efforts failed as OPEC+ announced yesterday that it would cut global production by 2 million barrels daily.

Why this matters: The Biden administration is seeking to maintain the lower gas prices as the midterms approach. Biden’s temporary solution of using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is becoming less feasible after releasing 180 million barrels from the reserve and announcing the release of another 10 million just yesterday.

Where’s this heading? Gas prices are sure to spike as the nation’s oil reserves decrease and OPEC moves against the administration’s wishes. Biden is now shifting his focus from the Saudis to another authoritarian regime—easing sanctions on Venezuela to tap into their oil.

It’s a Biden-manufactured problem. Rejecting domestic oil production: Biden has issued fewer leases for on-shore and off-shore oil production than any other president since the 1940s. Gas prices have risen since the start of his administration, and Biden rejected solutions that would solve the problem, instead adopting policies that would exacerbate it, like increasing regulations on the gas industry and revoking oil permits.

Lobbying for more sanctions on Russian oil: The Biden administration pushed the European Union to approve a new set of sanctions on Russian oil yesterday that would place a price cap on Russia’s oil and ultimately increase oil prices.

Big picture

Consumed by green-energy idealism, the Biden administration has rejected the need for domestic oil production and instead placed its bets on lobbying for increased foreign production—an effort that has now failed. As the midterms approach, Americans will feel the effects of a failed energy policy.