I have been recent posts and letters recently complaining current high gasoline prices, which is $3.44 a gallon in New Jersey, and mostly written by authors who dislike or disapprove of President Joe Biden, who blame him for these high prices.
I would like to point out some inaccuracies in their statements.
These commentators fail to mention that average gasoline prices in 2017 was $2.54 gallon, in 2018 it was $2.80 a gallon, and in 2019 it was $2.70 a gallon. Adjusted for inflation, these prices would probably represent over $3.00 a gallon.
Critics of Biden also blame him for cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline and stating that the U.S. was previously an exporter of oil.
Actually, the U.S. is still net exporter of oil. In the first half of 2021, petroleum product exports averaged 5.5 million b/d.
Oil and gasoline prices are generally not effected by who is president, but more by extraneous conditions. In the current environment, total oil production declined in 2020 because of significantly reduced drilling activity and production curtailments cause by reduced oil demand and low prices caused by the pandemic in 2020.
Further, declining production at exiting wells is expected to outpace production from newly drilled wells in the coming months.
Robert J. Bailey
Hewitt