White House Scrambling To Solve US Gas Price Surge

By Staff, Agencies

The White House is scrambling to help tackle rising gas prices which could put Democrats to rout in this fall’s midterm elections.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden’s economics team and outside advisers met to discuss various options, with more meetings expected on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is set to convene an emergency meeting in the coming days.

The White House is also mulling over endorsing a federal gas tax holiday while at the same time it is getting ready for a controversial summit with Saudi Arabia where Biden and Saudi officials are expected to discuss the global fuel supply as a major point of discussion.

“All options are being considered obviously,” said one administration official without clarifying whether the idea was gaining traction.

The White House also on Wednesday chastised some of the largest oil companies for profiteering off surging energy prices.

Biden sent a letter to seven major oil executives, demanding that they take actions to boost the supply of gasoline, diesel and other refined products on the market.

“I understand that many factors contributed to the business decisions to reduce refinery capacity, which occurred before I took office. But at a time of war, refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable,” Biden wrote in letters to executives at Shell, Exxon Mobil and other companies.

“Amid a war that has raised gasoline prices more than $1.70 per gallon, historically high refinery profit margins are worsening that pain,” he wrote.

On Saturday, the US national average price of gasoline reached the $5 mark for the first time in US history as inflation hit a 41-year high of 8.6 percent in May.

The increasing gas prices, which have been exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict, is a major political liability for Democrats ahead of the fall midterm elections.