President Biden should expect his approval rating to fall further after this week’s desperate plea to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the OPEC cartel to raise global oil production to ease rising prices.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating dropped below 50 percent in July for the first time in his presidency. He should expect it to fall further after this week’s desperate plea to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the OPEC cartel to raise global oil production to ease rising prices. Biden is not the first president to lobby OPEC for more oil. The resident of the White House has bent a knee to the oil-rich Middle East since the 1970s. But none of Biden’s predecessors did so while pursuing an aggressive anti-oil agenda. Even Biden’s old boss, former President Barack Obama, at least feigned appreciation for the oil industry and the economic power of the shale sector during his eight years in the White House. Biden set his own course, though, doubling down on addressing climate change and vowing to spend whatever it takes to wean Americans off oil and gas. The reaction of the market was predictable, if somewhat delayed due to COVID-19’s impact on demand. Once vaccines became available and demand started to recover, tight supply sent gasoline prices climbing. The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.19 on August 14, according to AAA. That is the highest average price of 2021, and $1.02 more than a year ago. Rising consumer prices is a problem for Democrats, who were already anxious about holding onto majorities in both chambers of Congress next year. There are things Biden could do to ease energy prices. The U.S. oil sector was able to more than double production in the past decade – hitting an all-time record high of 13.1 million barrels a day in March 2020, before the global pandemic knocked demand and investment off track. Drillers have sat on capital ever since over concerns about the direction of U.S. policy and the impact of the pandemic on global demand. Instead of calling on American companies to invest in domestic production and put U.S. workers back in the field, though, the Biden White House chose to press the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia to increase global output.
