On Wednesday night, Biden’s Interior Department announced they had cancelled the oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet. This news comes after the nation might be set to face fuel shortages, especially in diesel.
According to the Hill, a spokesperson for Biden’s department said that the sale did not generate enough interest. There was also another sale in the Gulf of Mexico that will not continue because of contradictory court rulings about it.
The spokesperson was referring to Biden signing an executive order on his first day in office to freeze all new oil and gas leases on federal lands and the court decision by Trump appointed Judge James Cain who struck down the ruling. The Biden admin is currently appealing.
January of 2022 a Washington District Court invalidated the Gulf Of Mexico lease sold by the Government.
John Catsimatidis, CEO of United Refining Co., said that Americans should get ready for fuel rationing and particularly for diesel.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see diesel being rationed on the East Coast this summer,” Catsimatidis told Bloomberg. “Right now, inventories are low and we may see a shortage in coming months.”
According to AAA, diesel is setting new records with it rising to $5.56 a gallon.
According to Bloomberg, “Fuel supplies are tight across the country after refineries mothballed plants during the pandemic when fuel demand was decimated by stay-at-home orders. The East Coast suffered a particular blow after Philadelphia Energy Solutions permanently closed its refinery, which supplied the entire East Coast, in 2019 following an explosion”
Catsimatidis thinks that regular fuel prices will continue to climb well into Memorial Day.
“Drivers will pay the highest gasoline prices ever paid for Memorial Day,” he said.
Do you think Biden is handling the fuel crisis well?
