The Biden administration is playing defense as gasoline prices have risen 60% in a year. Faced with an unfriendly administration, U.S. oil companies have not raised output as much as they usually do when prices are high.
Despite putting pressure on the oil-producing nations, the oil-importing countries failed to move OPEC. COVID restrictions, particularly the air travel ban, led to an oil surplus in April 2020. To ward off an oil price crash on the international markets, OPEC cut oil production. The OPEC members had charted a plan to boost output gradually once the economies started opening up. Notwithstanding a sharp rise in demand in the past months, the oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, have refused to accelerate production and have committed to sticking to their July agreement.
