The U.S. is producing more oil than anytime in history

Cristiano Ronaldo

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Biden came into office after having promised to slash oil production on public land. Canceling the Keystone XL pipeline during his first week in office seemed to confirm the image of him as a president who would happily throttle the country’s oil industry while showering the renewable energy industry with government dollars. But things turned out a little differently.

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The move

Biden has been happy to use government largess to stimulate the renewables industry — but he’s also done little to check the short-term growth of oil. After the Covid-led economic downturn and Russian invasion of Ukraine caused a supply shock in the crude markets that drove U.S. gasoline prices up in 2022, the White House made an uneasy, but real, embrace of the oil industry to help bring down gasoline prices.

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The impact

U.S. oil production is at record levels and is expected to go even higher next year. U.S. production is humming along at more than 13 million barrels per day and growing. That’s a gusher that’s topped levels that then-President Trump and GOP backers used to boast about. Exports are also on the rise as domestic fuel consumption has slowly come off the highs experienced a decade ago, meaning that every new barrel of oil produced in the United States is more likely to head overseas. Gasoline is now below $3 a gallon in many parts of the country.

The upshot

Demanding an “all of the above” policy that includes all forms of energy has become cliche among lawmakers. Under Biden, that may have become a reality few politicians will want to publicly discuss. Democrats don’t want to alienate their green backers on the left who’ve accused the administration of abandoning its climate focus, while Republicans are loath to admit that Biden’s oil boom is bigger than Trump’s.