Report: Biden Administration's Pleas to Foreign Oil Company Roundly Rejected
As the U.S. continues to struggle with high gas prices and the chaos of the global oil market, the Biden administration has turned to foreign oil producers to beg for help.
In March, U.S. government officials asked Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobas, if it could increase crude output after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spiked oil prices across the whole world, Reuters reported.
But officials at Petrobas said no.
Petrobas said that the output levels of crude were a function of business strategy and not diplomacy. A significant production boost that was only temporary was not logistically possible, officials said.
But as all Americans continue to suffer high prices at the gas pump, U.S. officials have continued to state that the government is trying to find solutions.
“We are … doing everything possible with our allies and partners to mitigate the economic impacts of Russian actions on other economies like Brazil,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.
“We are working with energy companies to surge their capacity to supply energy to the market, particularly as prices increase,” the spokesperson added.
The current gas price average in the states right now is $4.37 per gallon, AAA reported.
Meanwhile, oil prices are staying well above $100 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (the U.S. oil benchmark) was at $100.2 per barrel at midday Tuesday and Brent crude (the European oil benchmark) was $103 per barrel (down from $102 and $104, respectively, earlier in the day), Oil Price reported.
With soaring prices, the Biden administration has not shied away from asking for foreign help, even from governments that the U.S. has shied away from working with in the past. But he has been rejected several times.
In March, the U.S. even asked Venezuela about selling its oil on the international market to help replace the Russian oil that the West boycotted, CNN reported.
The U.S. paused talks with Venezuela after the administration received backlash for trying to negotiate with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the oppressive, autocratic leader of the country, the Miami Herald reported.
Biden even turned to Saudi Arabia for oil, even though he had previously isolated the kingdom and called it out as a “pariah” during his presidential campaign, Axios reported.
But the kingdom and even the liberal United Arab Emirates rejected Biden and “decline[d] calls with Biden,” the Guardian reported.
The rejection from Brazil was just one more strike against the Biden administration as it continues to scramble to try to deal with the fuel crisis and rising prices that Americans are very unhappy with.
Most Americans have begun blaming the Biden administration for the high gas prices, Politico reported in April.
According to polls, 51 percent blame Biden and another 52 percent blame policies of the Democratic Party, for the high fuel prices.
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