Biden warns Big Oil not to use Hurricane Ian as excuse for raising prices

President Biden on Wednesday warned oil executives not to use Hurricane Ian as an excuse to “gouge the American people” — a shot across the industry’s bow as Florida braces for the storm.

Biden, who has suffered in the polls amid persistent inflation under his administration, said the “small, temporary” impact on oil production due to the storm is “no excuse for price increases at the pump.”.

“If gas companies try to use this storm to raise prices at the pump, I will ask officials to look into whether price gouging is going on,” he said.

The president said his experts estimated that the storm has affected the production of “only about 190,000 barrels a day” — a figure “less than 2% of the United States’ daily production.”.

Prices for regular gasoline have fallen about 25% since hitting a record-high average of $5.01 per gallon in June.

“They should be moving more quickly now to bring down the price at the pump,” he said

“There’s too much of a delay between the price of a barrel of [oil] being produced and the price of gasoline at the pump.”