On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” White House Senior Adviser Amos Hochstein stated that the White House wants to lower energy prices and “we’re going to try to work to make sure that we have whatever we need, that American consumers can get those lower prices.” But some of the restrictions on oil drilling “are good” for the American public.
Hochstein said, “Look, energy prices now are about ten cents lower today than they were just about — just a couple of weeks ago. We are lower than we were this Memorial Day than we were last year. So, consumers — what’s most important for President Biden is to see that consumers and American families are getting lower prices at the pump progressively. So, obviously, we think that they should be — we hope that they go even lower, but then we understand this is the peak of driving season just starting now on Memorial Day. But we’re glad to see that oil prices have come off by about $10 or so from their highs a few weeks ago, gasoline prices at the pump for consumers are also down. So, we’re going to try to work to make sure that we have whatever we need, that American consumers can get those lower prices.”
Later, after Hochstein talked about increased energy production in the U.S., host Edward Lawrence asked, “But you do have most of the increase coming from private lands, not public lands, you’ve got the President…canceling the Keystone Pipeline, recently, he’s restricted the amount of land in Alaska that they can drill on. He’s gone through and limited — he’s increased the prices of royalties on public lands, increase[d] the amount of insurance that needs to be — the cost of insurance on those pumps on land there. So, there are restrictions in place, going forward. So, why not loosen some of that while we make this transition?”
Hochstein answered, “So, Ed, it’s very important to note that there’s — some of these restrictions that you’re citing are good for the American people, increasing the royalties for the first time in decades is a good deal for the American public, so that the American people can benefit from this, as well. And it’s hard to make the argument that anything that the Biden administration has done has restricted the industry from being able to increase production. They have increased production…by a rate that far exceeds anything that anybody anticipated just 18 months ago. Go back and look at the anticipated increases, and they were at a much lower percentage than what we ended up doing. So, we have seen that there’s this balance, that you put restrictions that you need to put on, it’s not an open check, but the industry has proven that they are able to grow, both their profits, as well as their production, here in the United States, for the American economy, at levels that are necessary.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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