Most of the 18.4 cent reduction would be pocketed by industry -- with maybe a few cents passed on to consumers."
Senior administration officials have acknowledged that criticism, but said Biden would pressure companies to pass along the savings."There's no time now for profiteering," Biden said, adding later that energy companies must increase refining capacity to produce more gas for American consumers and bring down prices."To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump -- this is a time of war, global peril, Ukraine.Biden has made Russia's war in Ukraine his top scapegoat for climbing gas prices but has also called out oil and gas companies, saying they aren't doing enough to bring down costs and accusing them of profiting off the war.He repeated some of those arguments on Tuesday, saying the country needs "more refining capacity."
"This idea that they don't have oil to drill and to bring up is simply not true," he said.In response to the President's criticisms, the oil industry has largely said that it is the Biden administration's fault that prices are so high because of what they perceive as limits on domestic oil and gas production.Chevron CEO Mike Worth said in a letter on Tuesday that Biden should stop criticizing the oil and gas industry and called for a "change in approach" from the White House."Your Administration has largely sought to criticize, and at times vilify, our industry," Worth wrote in an open letter to Biden.