09.07.23

Hoeven: U.S. Needs More Supply to Combat High Gas Prices

Biden Administration Policies Stifling U.S. Energy Production, Empowering Russia & Saudi Arabia to Drive up Costs for U.S. Consumers

WASHINGTON – On the floor of the U.S. Senate this week, Senator John Hoeven outlined the impact of high gas prices on U.S. consumers and called on the Biden administration to increase domestic energy production, rather than relying on adversaries with little regard for environmental stewardship.

“As Americans hit the road over the recent holiday weekend, many noticed something that has become all too familiar under the Biden administration, and that’s continued high prices at the gas pump,” said Hoeven. “Today, consumers are paying at the pump about $3.80 per gallon for gasoline on average, 60 percent higher than when President Biden took office. That hits everyone right in the pocketbook, particularly those who can afford it the least.

“It’s not just that President Biden has restricted domestic supply, but he has increased our dependence on foreign oil, and our adversaries know it. Since the Biden administration started, it has released 260 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, bringing our reserve to its lowest level since 1983… Now, Saudi Arabia is voluntarily cutting 1 million barrels per day of production while Russia is reducing 300,000 barrels per day of exports. Following that announcement, the price of Brent crude rose to over $90 per barrel, the price of WTI crude rose to almost $87 per barrel, and today they are up again. Basically, President Biden has weakened our ability to respond just when we need to, and our adversaries are well aware. That’s why they are reducing supply to push prices up.

“The United States is a global energy powerhouse, and it’s time we act like one. Simply put, increasing U.S. energy production and refining capacity is the ultimate solution to bringing more supply, thereby lowering prices at the pump and providing hardworking families and businesses the relief from high energy prices they need and they deserve. That’s why President Biden needs to take the handcuffs off and unleash the full potential of America’s vast energy reserves.”

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, Hoeven is advancing efforts to increase the nation’s energy supply to bring down prices for consumers, while working to reverse harmful Biden administration policies, which have severely limited federal oil and gas leasing and increased the cost of producing energy on federal lands. To this end, Hoeven is sponsoring legislation to:

  • Remove duplicative Bureau of Land Management (BLM) permitting regulations and better respect the rights of private mineral holders. 
  • Prevent unnecessary delays for important cross-border energy projects, such as pipelines and electrical transmission lines.
  • Streamline and set deadlines for multi-agency National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews of natural gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects needed to get energy to market.

Hoeven’s bills have been included in two pieces of comprehensive energy permitting reform legislation. This includes the Spur Permitting of Underdeveloped Resources (SPUR) Act, which Hoeven helped introduce and is sponsored by Senate ENR Ranking Member John Barrasso, and H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year.

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