President Biden decides to ban fuel extraction in the wake of rising fuel prices in United States

Washington: President Biden has announced a ban on projects that increase the country’s fuel production, as fuel prices in the United States have reached record levels. Three oil refining contracts between Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico have been cancelled. The American Petroleum Institute is outraged by Biden’s decision. On the one hand, the Biden administration is demanding an increase in fuel supplies, and on the other, it is taking decisions to reduce supplies, alleged the American Petroleum Institute. Republicans in the United States have also criticized Biden’s decision.

Moreover, inflation has risen sharply in Western countries, which have spoken of imposing sanctions on the Russian economy since the Ukraine conflict. The US is leading in this, with the country’s inflation index reaching eight per cent. The rise in fuel prices is believed to be the main reason behind this rising inflation. President Biden, who has shrugged off Russia’s sanctions over the Ukraine war, has said that he can do nothing about rising inflation and that Russia is to blame.

Moreover, inflation has not subsided since US President Joe Biden took office. Inflation in the US has been steadily rising for 14 consecutive months since November 2020. Fuel prices in the US have reached $4 per gallon. With prices rising every week, Biden is busy claiming that he has pushed Russia to stop importing Russian fuel. On the other hand, efforts to increase fuel imports from OPEC and other countries have also failed. Against this backdrop, Biden has banned projects that would boost domestic fuel production in the United States. These include refuelling in the Cook Inlet area of Alaska and two offshore fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

Republicans and a group of fuel companies have criticized the cancellation of the project as a double standard when the United States appears to be running out of fuel. Frank, head of the American Petroleum Institute, also called for an immediate decision by the Biden administration on a five-year plan for offshore drilling.

Meanwhile, Republican leaders have sharply criticized the Biden administration’s new decision as ‘irresponsible and foolish.’ The Republican Party has also accused President Biden‘s decision of hurting the American people.