OPEC Secretary General Haitham al-Ghais shared on Tuesday, writing for the Financial Times, that “mixed messages” are to blame for the lack of investment in oil, as countries are pushing oil and gas producers to ensure energy market stability and supply, while at the same time pledging to “end financing in fossil fuel projects.” Al-Ghais stressed that it is important for talks on energy, climate and sustainable development to be “inclusive, welcoming” rather than “emotive and forceful.” “We cannot return to a world that is limited by the question: are you for or against fossil fuels? It cannot be just one or the other,” the OPEC chief stressed. He further stated that such behavior “limits the options available to help the world meet the interwoven challenges of energy affordability and security that have emerged starkly in the past year.”
Biden Says Big Oil’s Windfall Profits Result Of ‘Brutal War’
In an address to the nation on Monday, President Joe Biden raised the specter of a windfall tax on energy companies that refuse to boost domestic production to bring down oil and gas prices which will weigh on midterm elections on November 8th.
With earnings season in full force, Biden was responding to a barrage of reports of America’s biggest oil companies bringing in record-high profits.
In his Monday statement, which aired at 4:30 p.m. EST, Biden said that oil companies were not earning windfall profits because of their innovation; rather, they were earning windfall profits on the back of a “brutal” war launched by Russia in Ukraine. The U.S. president said he would work with Congress to impose tax penalties on oil company profits but offered no further details during the short briefing, and did not take questions from reporters. Earlier in the day, a White House official had told the Associated Press that “The president will again call on oil and gas companies to invest their record profits in lowering costs for American families and increasing production”. “And if they don’t, he will call on Congress to consider requiring oil companies to pay tax penalties and face other restrictions,” the unnamed official told AP ahead of the live briefing. Gasoline prices at the pump have fallen for the third consecutive week; however, the White House maintains that prices have not fallen enough. National averages for a gallon of gasoline in the United States fell to $3.72 on Monday, according to GasBuddy data. Also on Monday, government figures showed that U.S. oil output had risen to nearly 12 million barrels per day in August. That figure represents the highest level of oil production in the United States since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported.