White House Celebrates 5-Cent Decline in National Average Gas Price

The White House teased President Joe Biden‘s oil announcement by touting the small downward trend in the national average gas price per gallon.

“The average retail price is down by 5 cents over the last week,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday, citing 13- to 30-cent drops in such states as California, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

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Jean-Pierre repeated that the national gas price average has decreased by $1.15 since the summer’s high of more than $5 per gallon, pushed up by the pandemic and Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.

“The 98-consecutive-day decline this summer was the fastest in over a decade,” she said. “Every month, the typical two-driver family saves about $120 at the pump, compared to where we were in mid-June.”

Gas prices increased this month amid reports OPEC+ would cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day from November to put pressure on prices before the 2022 elections. The national average per gallon is currently $3.90, according to AAA.

Biden will reportedly announce Wednesday he is releasing another 10 million to 20 million barrels of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the country’s emergency stockpile that has been periodically drawn down since March to supplement the market and lower prices.

“There is no shortage of opportunity or incentive for oil companies to ramp up production,” Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. “Oil companies are ranking in record profits, as we have seen.”

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“More than 9,000 approved drilling permits remain untapped by the oil industry,” she added. “At the same time, U.S. oil production is up and on track to reach a record high this year.”

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