Gas prices

Presidents don’t control the price of gas. Oil prices are determined by global supply and demand. Prices increased worldwide due to COVID-19 supply chain issues, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and increased demand as people returned to work.

World events that increase the price of crude oil rapidly increase our price at the pump. When crude prices decrease, our price reduces more slowly. Oil companies profit both ways.

Prices are also determined by the decisions of oil-producing countries and oil companies to restrict production to maximize their revenue. Federal lands only comprise about 10% of U.S. oil and gas supply. President Joe Biden actually outpaced President Donald Trump in issuing drilling permits on public lands. Oil companies hold more than 9,000 public leases that they aren’t drilling. In the past two years, oil companies reduced their refining capacity by 5%, removing more than 1 million barrels of fuel per day from the market.

Increasing domestic production does not necessarily increase U.S. supply. In 2015, Congress repealed the 40-year ban on crude oil exports. Oil companies are currently exporting 8.4 million barrels of crude oil and refined fuels from the

U.S. each day, equal to about 42% of U.S. consumption and more than 10 times the capacity of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Oil companies are motivated by profit and have no reason to reduce prices for Americans. Twenty-eight oil and gas producers made nearly $100 billion in the first three months of 2022.

David Campbell, Virginia Beach