Oil industry leaders urge Biden to ban exports

Executives from the American Petroleum Institute and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers wrote a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday, urging the Biden administration to take a ban on oil exports because of high energy prices.

The industry leaders wrote in a letter that banning or limiting the export of refined products would likely decrease inventory levels, reduce domestic refining capacity, and alienate U.S. allies during a time of war.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy said they are considering all options to shore up domestic energy inventories.

The Department of Energy spokeswoman said that Putin's war in Ukraine has disrupted the energy markets and instead of showing an ability to ensure that the American consumer and our allies have reliable supply at a fair price, energy companies are raking in record high profits while our inventories are at record lows. The Administration will look at all tools available to protect Americans and uphold our commitments to our allies as we observe these data points. Granholm sent a letter to U.S. refining companies in August, instructing them to focus on building inventories in the US rather than selling down current stocks and increasing exports in the near term. Last month, she said that restrictions are not being considered at this time, but oil industry leaders wrote in Tuesday's letter that recent discussions with officials raised concerns that a ban could be implemented.

President Biden blames oil companies for the surge in energy prices this year, which has been partially driven by Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Oil prices had risen steadily long before that invasion, back to Biden's first days in office when he used executive orders to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline and paused it.

Biden said at a White House Competition Council last month that oil and gas companies are still making record profits, billions of dollars in profits.

My message is simple. To the companies that are setting gas stations and setting prices at the pump, bring down prices you're charging at the pump to reflect the price you're paying for the product. On Tuesday, WTI Crude, the U.S. benchmark, climbed 3% to $86.37 a barrel, down from its high for the year of $122.10 on June 7.

Oil industry leaders wrote in Tuesday's letter that "We urge the Biden administration to speak clearly and with one voice to disavow a refined product export ban or export restrictions, which would raise global and U.S. prices, roil energy markets, and deter needed investments across the U.S. energy supply chain.