Group of Senators urge Biden to take aggressive measures to lower gas prices

WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to help alleviate gas prices, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and nine of their colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden urging the administration to “consider all tools available at your disposal to lower U.S. gasoline prices. This includes a release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and a ban on crude oil exports. We hope you will consider these tools and others to make gasoline more affordable for all Americans.”

“We share the administration’s concerns that the decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and others to purposefully manipulate gas prices by constraining supply, as well as the choice of domestic leaseholders and producers to continue to export U.S. petroleum, threaten to send already record prices even higher,” wrote the senators. “Continued U.S. exports and overseas supply collusion could be devastating to many in our states, contributing to higher bills for American families and businesses.”

Crude oil prices represent the biggest factor in terms of the prices that consumers pay at the gas pump. But the cost of refining, distribution expenses, taxes, and rent for the gas station also influence the price at the pump.

Gas price experts have pointed to a “perfect storm” of factors that have contributed to the recent gas price spike, including: U.S. oil producers slowing production down during the height of the pandemic and laying workers off; COVID-related bottlenecks in the supply chain; OPEC countries like Saudi Arabia are severely limiting petroleum production; extensive hurricane damage to Louisiana refineries; and a downed pipeline from Atlanta to the East Coast.

In addition to Senators Brown and Reed, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).