The rapid rise in fuel prices has slowed, and prices have even been dropping slightly in most states. But they’re still near record highs. Will costs continue to decline, or shoot upward to new highs in the weeks ahead?
One energy analyst says it may all depend on the actions of President Biden who could reduce the burden by taking two simple steps.
Consumer Energy Alliance Vice President of State Affairs Kevin Doyle believes U.S. consumers could get some relief if the president were to restore federal oil and gas leases and lift restrictions on pipelines.
Appearing on this week’s episode of the CBN News Channel program The Global Lane, Doyle said not only would those presidential actions create jobs and increase domestic energy supplies, but those steps could also help America’s European allies reduce their dependence on Russian oil.
“I think the administration here can help,” Doyle explained. “Why is western Europe and our allies having to go to places that don’t like us as much to get their energy when we can definitely develop our own energy here? We have resources, we can do it, cleanly. We’ve got the best environmental standards in the world, and we have the resources that create the jobs here instead of spending the money elsewhere.”
BELOW: Watch the full interview with Kevin Doyle
President Biden responded to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by imposing a ban on imported Russian oil. During 2020, Russian oil amounted to about 7% of U.S oil imports.
When he announced the ban on March 8th, the president said the embargo would bring pain to the American people, “Defending freedom is going to cost.”
Gasoline prices immediately skyrocketed, jumping $1 to $2 per gallon. Motorists in some states paid as much as $7 per gallon or more, partly due to their states’ higher gas taxes.
Hoping to lessen the burden on U.S. consumers, Biden has considered asking Venezuela’s dictator for help rather than pumping more of our own U.S. oil.
Daniel Di Martino is a commentator with Young Voices, a national mentorship program that helps young journalists sharpen their writing skills. The organization also solicits media outlets to publish articles and broadcast insights of participating journalists.
Di Martino, who is Venezuelan, believes the United States would be making a big mistake by lifting sanctions against the socialist regime and asking President Maduro for help replacing Russian oil, essentially exchanging the oil of one tyrant for another.
“The U.S. stopped importing oil in 2019 from Venezuela, which we produced very little of anyway. Now Biden is trying to get that revived for just a few hundred, maybe 100,000 barrels of oil per day trading our freedom, trading our human rights for a little bit of money that isn’t even enough to make a difference,” he explained.
Di Martino said U.S. sanctions relief for Venezuela would give Maduro a powerful revenue source for buying weapons and may cause his regime to revert to older economic policies that have proved destructive to Venezuelan society. He said the country still suffers from the highest inflation level in the world. In 2019, Venezuela’s inflation rate exceeded 1,000,000%.
“And that is what has cost so many of us, like my family, who in the early 2000s were making a few thousand dollars a month… to making $100 a month. It changed recently for the better because the sanctions that Trump implemented forced the regime to dollarize the economy inside,” he explained.
Earlier this month, Biden sent national security adviser for the Western hemisphere Juan Gonzalez and another official to Venezuela to negotiate the release of two American prisoners. The administration insisted it made no deal with Maduro to purchase oil, or provide sanctions relief to the country in exchange for the prisoners’ freedom.
Di Martino said if Biden normalizes relations with Maduro and purchases Venezuelan oil, he will actually be working against the interests of the United States.
“He’s helping Russia’s ally,” explained Di Martino. “Just a day before he sent his advisers to Venezuela, the Russian ambassador to Venezuela was in a meeting with Maduro, where a bunch of his paid crowd was chanting that ‘we stand with Russia, we stand with Russia against Ukraine.’ So, who is Biden really helping here? He’s helping Russia.”
In the meantime, what can American motorists expect as they take to the road for their spring and summer vacations?
Although gasoline prices have dropped slightly over the record highs reported earlier this month, might they rise to even higher record levels in the weeks ahead?
Doyle believes a lot may depend on Ukraine and President Biden’s willingness to restore energy independence to the United States.
“I think unfortunately unless things change in the administration and also change what’s going on with Russia, you know, I think American families are going to see probably a continued increase in prices over the coming months. “
BELOW: Watch the full interview with Daniel Di Martino, and be sure to see The Global Lane on the CBN News Channel. Click here for a complete programming schedule.
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN