FARGO – Senator John Hoeven, R-ND, issued the following statement after OPEC+ announced it would cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day.
“Increasing U.S. oil production is needed to lower energy prices for U.S. consumers and counter OPEC’s decision to cut oil production. We’re in a supply crisis and consumers are paying for it because the Biden administration’s policies are stifling U.S. oil production. The Biden administration needs to take the handcuffs off our domestic energy producers. By unleashing more American energy, we can lower prices and help provide hardworking families and businesses relief from record inflation caused by the Biden administration’s policies. The U.S. can and should be energy independent once again.”
In 2019, the U.S. produced 13 million barrels per day of oil, including 1.5 million barrels per day from North Dakota. Today, under the Biden administration, U.S. production is down to 11.8 million barrels per day and North Dakota production is just about 1 million barrels per day. Hoeven highlighted how President Biden’s policies subject the U.S. to the whims of OPEC and Russia. Instead of unleashing domestic energy production, the Biden administration has been releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), and proposed buying OPEC oil to refill the SPR to keep oil prices high. This is another example of how the Biden energy policy is taking the U.S. in the wrong direction.
