U.S. inflation unexpectedly rose to an all-time high of 8.6 percent in May, and President Biden was nervous, blasting Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday for not producing more oil. Right now, soaring oil and gas prices are draining American wallets and the prestige of U.S. leaders ahead of the midterm elections.
“Exxon has made more money than God this year,” Biden said, advocating for increased taxes on oil companies, which “have 9,000 drilling licenses, but they’re not drilling. Why aren’t they drilling? Because they’re not producing. More oil makes more money”.
The problem is that Biden’s Democratic Party has always supported new energy and opposed petrochemical energy, so oil companies and refining and chemical companies do not want to make capital investments, because those investments cannot be paid back for more than 10 years. But now that the Biden administration has sanctioned Russia, and oil prices have risen above $120, Biden has not turned his back on oil companies.
Exxon Mobil reported huge profits in the first three months of the year as crude prices rose due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, despite falling oil and gas production. The company’s first-quarter profit more than doubled to $5.5 billion, while operating income rose 52.4% to $87.7 billion.
Earlier in the day, data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) rose 8.6% year-on-year in May, hitting a 40-year high. AFP described it as a “devastating inflation report”.
U.S. energy prices have soared 34.6% over the past year, with fuel costs jumping 106.7%, the biggest jump since records began in 1935, according to reports. And high inflation has led to a slump in Biden’s approval rating.
