Biden: ‘Do Not Use This Storm as an Excuse to Raise Gasoline Prices or Gouge the American Public’
President offers stern warning for industry in the wake of Hurricane Ian
Just as Americans have begun to see some relief at the fuel pump in recent weeks from falling prices, President Biden issued a sober warning to the petroleum industry not to use Hurricane Ian and its aftermath as a pretext to jack up fuel prices anew.
Those in Florida and elsewhere in the southeastern United States have been left reeling as a result of Hurricane Ian, which came ashore in Florida earlier this week as a fierce Category 4 storm.
Still, it is no excuse for the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates to claim as a reason to begin raising the prices consumers pay for a gallon of gasoline, Biden advised this week in a visit to the Washington DC headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The hurricane has hit just a small sliver of domestic fuel supply, the president said.
“I also want to say again to the oil and gas executives: Do not, do not, do not use this storm as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American public,” Biden said. “The price of oil has dropped in recent weeks, the price of gas should be going down as rapidly. It's not.
“My experts informed me the production of only about 160,000 barrels a day has been impacted by this storm. That's less than 2 percent of our country's daily production. It's small and temporary impact on oil production, it provides no excuse. No excuse for price increases at the pump, period,” he added.
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