Oil industry describes emergency meeting with Biden administration as 'constructive'
Oil-industry representatives on Thursday described a meeting with a top Biden administration official as “constructive,” while the White House said the huddle was “productive,” as both sides face pressure due to high gasoline prices.
President Joe Biden last week had called for major U.S. oil refiners to take part in the “emergency meeting” with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, as he also criticized their profits and urged them to produce more gasoline and diesel.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: petroleum
While electric-powered vehicles may be the ride of the future, oil remains at least for now the dominant fuel for transportation around the world. And after a period of time at the end of the 20th century when oil was subject to wide fluctuations in price, new supplies in North America as a result of non-conventional recovery techniques have helped stabilize prices.
Related Knowledge Center: Energy security and pricing
The United States achieved net energy independence in 2020, but that has not insulated the nation from the roiling of energy markets in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Europe has been a large consumer of Russian natural gas, and the effort to wean itself, with the help of the United States, has strained markets and endangered global efforts to address the climate crisis.