Biden Still Looking at ‘Range of Options’ on Gasoline Prices, White House Says

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden and his administration are focused on finding ways to bring down rising gasoline prices, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, though she declined to comment on specific options under consideration.

“Certainly the cost of gas is on the mind of the president, as it is on the mind of many Americans across the country,” Psaki said Friday during a White House briefing. She added that the administration is “looking at a range of options we have at our disposal.”

She said the administration has been pushing oil producing countries to pump more crude and seeking to ensure there isn’t price gouging at the pump. But she declined to say whether Biden plans to release oil from an emergency stockpile known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The president has repeatedly hinted in recent days that he would act to tame gasoline prices, which are running at the highest level in seven years and were a major driver in consumer prices in October jumping at the fastest rate since 1990.

While in Europe for a series of international meetings earlier this month, Biden said there were “tools in the arsenal” that could be used to address the refusal by OPEC+ to boost crude oil supply. On Wednesday, the president said lowering consumer prices was his “top priority.”
 
But the president’s options to tackle oil prices without the cooperation of producers is limited. Biden could order a release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Or Biden could consider reinstating an export ban on crude oil, after a 40-year prohibition on U.S. oil exports was lifted six years ago.

But neither option offers a perfect solution. Experts warn that tapping the strategic reserves may only have a small impact on consumer prices, while reinstating the export ban risks further disrupting markets.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in an interview with CNN last weekend that she would be looking at the monthly survey by the U.S. Energy Information Administration as the U.S. determined what steps it might take. In that report, released Tuesday, the EIA projected retail gasoline prices would decline in the coming month, potentially lessening pressure on the administration to act quickly.

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