Biden Demands Oil Companies ‘Should Be Drilling More Than They’re Doing Now’

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Florida Memorial University, in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Nov. 1, 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

President Joe Biden once again placed the blame of the energy crisis on oil companies during a recent speech at a rally, demanding that they drill more.

In a speech at a rally for Democratic Party on Nov. 3, Biden insisted that his administration’s actions are bringing down gas prices after Russia’s Ukraine invasion sent the price of gas soaring. In June, when gas prices averaged $5 per gallon, the country stepped up and “did the right thing,” he claimed.

“But not everyone. I know we have a lot of leases out here in New Mexico for oil companies. And we haven’t slowed them down at all. They should be drilling more than they’re doing now,” Biden said.

“If they were drilling more, we’d have more—more relief at the pump. But the oil industry hasn’t met their commitment to invest in America and support the American people.”

The president then highlighted the “record profits” made by major oil companies like Shell and Exxon during the last quarter.

Shell made two times the profit in the third quarter than during the year-ago quarter, while Exxon’s third-quarter profits were more than what they made in 152 years, Biden said, while adding that in the last six months, oil companies have made more than $100 billion in profit in 200 days.

He accused the oil companies of “taking advantage.” If these companies were only generating average profits they have been making for the past 20 years, gasoline prices would be down by $0.50 a gallon, Biden stated.

These companies are buying back stock and giving their profits to shareholders, he added, while insisting that such “outrageous profits are the windfalls of war.”

“Earlier this week, I made clear that the industry has a choice: either invest in America or pay higher taxes for your excess profits and face restrictions,” Biden said amid applause from his supporters.

Restricting Oil and Gas Industry

The president’s attempt to lay the blame for tight energy supplies on oil and gas firms comes after he has taken several steps to curtail the industry.

“No more subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill. Period. Ends,” Biden said in March 2020 before he became the president.

After assuming office in January 2021, Biden issued an executive order freezing oil and gas leases. The matter is still in the courts. He halted the Keystone XL pipeline, which was set to supply 830,000 barrels of oil to the United States from Canada.

Biden also suspended oil production leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which former President Donald Trump had opened up for production during his time.

In Biden’s first 19 months in office, the Department of the Interior has leased only 126,228 acres of land for drilling, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. Since Richard Nixon, no other president has leased less than 4.4 million acres in their first 19 months in office during their first term.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Benjamin Salisbury, director of research at Height Capital Markets, pointed out that the Biden administration is expecting oil producers to respond to pleas from the same people who are “telling everybody that they are going to be obsolete in 30 or 40 years.”