Democrats urge Biden to counter pain at pump with more foreign oil production

Congressional Democrats want to counter rising fuel costs spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine with more oil production, but they’re looking overseas, not at home.

A dozen Senate and House Democrats urged President Biden to take three steps to counter market volatility: restricting U.S. petroleum exports; releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and using “diplomatic pressure to encourage global oil producers to ramp up their output.”

“At a time when American consumers are suffering because of Russia’s actions, we should insist that our international partners do more to increase production and stabilize prices,” said the Thursday letter signed by 11 Senate Democrats and one House Democrat, California’s Ro Khanna.

Rep. Brad Sherman, California Democrat, added his voice Friday by singling out Saudi Arabia, the largest crude producer of the OPEC+ nations.

“Saudi Arabia — now is your chance to be an ally or an enemy of those standing against Russia’s attack on #Ukraine,” tweeted Mr. Sherman. “Saudi Arabia must open taps and produce more oil so the world can turn its back on Russian oil. Otherwise, the blood of Ukrainians is also on Saudi Arabia’s hands.”

There was no mention of increasing U.S. oil-and-gas production, a sharp contrast to rising pressure from Republicans and industry groups for Mr. Biden to counter Russia’s leverage by lifting his restrictions on domestic exploration and development.

“The Biden administration said all options were on the table for addressing high gas prices,” said the House Republicans in a Saturday tweet. “They can start with unleashing American energy independence and ending their anti-energy agenda. Energy security is national security.”

The specter of soaring fuel prices has put Democrats in a bind as they seek to rein in gas prices — and avoid a wipeout in the November election — without backtracking on Mr. Biden’s climate-change agenda.

The Democratic dilemma drew plenty of mockery from the right on social media.

“The Biden admin war on American energy is so bad that we have Democrat Congressmen twitter-begging Saudi Arabia to produce more oil,” tweeted former National Republican Senatorial Committee senior adviser Matt Whitlock.

The Biden admin war on American energy is so bad that we have Democrat Congressmen twitter-begging Saudi Arabia to produce more oil. https://t.co/Kfw166VmsW

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 26, 2022

In their letter, the congressional Democrats said that U.S. petroleum production is already sufficient to meet domestic demand.

“Indeed, the Department of Energy projects that the U.S. will reach its highest level of crude oil production by next year and that net exports of petroleum product will reach new highs this year,” the letter said. “We should leverage that capacity to ensure that consumers at home are protected and that our global partners have access to supply no matter what actions Russia takes.”

The US LNG Association led a Friday letter of industry groups asking the White House to think about both U.S. and European energy security by taking specific steps, the first of which would  be to “publicly signal your support for domestic natural gas and oil production.”

The associations said that about 70% of Russian oil is exported to Europe, and that “the equivalent of a Berlin Airlift or Marshall Plan is urgently needed to reduce and eventually end Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.”

“Policies such as pausing leasing on federal lands, preventing new pipeline infrastructure, and discouraging investments across the hydrocarbon value chain hamper U.S. production, thereby driving up prices and making the world more reliant on energy from nations such as Russia,” said the letter. “In addition, as energy prices are set by the global commodity market, just the perception that production will be constrained often leads to higher prices.”

Last week, the Interior Department said it would delay oil-and-gas leasing in response to a federal judge’s order temporarily blocking the administration from using its “social cost of carbon” estimates assessing the impact of projects on climate change.

Former Vice President Mike Pence blasted Friday the Biden administration’s “war on energy,” citing his cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline; clampdown on oil-and-gas leasing on federal lands, and waiving of sanctions last year on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Russia.

Mr. Biden announced Wednesday that he would reimpose the Nord Stream 2 sanctions.

“We need to sanction the oil exports for the Russians,” said Mr. Pence on Fox News. “In the exact same moment, President Biden should authorize the Keystone pipeline and authorize oil and gas leases and exploration in the United States of America. Those two things in combination would send a deafening message of strength.”

The congressional Democrats said that in the long run, Mr. Biden’s climate plan would provide price stability by “eliminating U.S. dependence on oil.”

“We also believe now is the time to enact your clean energy plan to fight climate change and further insulate Americans from exogenous energy shocks,” they said in the letter.