By The FirstLet’s see how this goes over for ol’ Joe.
According to a report from The New York Post, President Biden lashed out at oil and gas companies on Tuesday for dragging their feet in lowering prices at the pump to reflect cheaper oil prices.
“We haven’t seen the lower prices reflected at the pump though. Meanwhile, oil and gas companies are still making record profits — billions of dollars in profit,” the president said on Monday.
“My message is simple. To the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump: Bring down the prices you’re charging at the pump to reflect the cost you pay for the product.”
Do it now,” Biden said. “Do it now. Not a month from now — do it now.”
“And it’s going to save people a lot of money.”
The current average cost of gas per gallon nationwide is $3.75.
From The New York Post:
Bob Bilbruck, the CEO of business strategy firm Captjur, told The Post that Biden was “way off base.”
“I grew up in the convenience store gas station business,” Bilbruck said.
“Margins are razor thin in these operations and depending on their relationship in the buying ecosystem they may be buying from a bulk fueler or directly from the producer [so] we are talking very little difference in prices,” he said.
Since gas station owners work on small margins, they are under “constant competitive pressures from the station next door to keep their prices competitive.”
“This is simple supply and demand,” Bilbruck told The Post.
“You have less drilling going on and less oil and gas being refined — prices go up.”
He added: “It’s basic economics — if Biden wanted to make a true impact and get costs down for the consumer there are many things he could do.”
