Biden says oil companies should ramp up production instead of buying back stock and paying dividends

U.S. President Joe Biden said lipid companies request to usage their record-profits to ramp up accumulation alternatively than to enrich shareholders.

"My connection to the American vigor companies is this: You should not beryllium utilizing your profits to bargain backmost banal oregon for dividends. Not now. Not portion a warfare is raging," Biden said. "You should beryllium utilizing these record-breaking profits to summation accumulation and refining."

Profits astatine the six largest publically traded lipid companies topped $70 cardinal successful the 2nd quarter, Biden said, adding that successful the archetypal fractional of the year, those companies spent $20 cardinal connected buybacks. "The astir important buyback successful astir a decade," helium said.

"So acold American companies are utilizing that windfall of profits to bargain backmost their ain stock, passing that wealth onto their shareholders, not to consumers."

Biden's telephone travel arsenic state prices are averaging $3.85 a gallon successful the U.S., dropping disconnected the grounds precocious of much than $5 a gallon conscionable acceptable successful June. With little than 3 weeks until the midterm elections, Americans successful polls progressively enactment the system and the terms of state astatine the apical of their concerns.

"Invest successful America for the American people, bring the down the terms astatine the terms you complaint astatine the pump to bespeak what you wage for the product. You'll inactive marque a important profit, your shareholders volition bash precise good and the American radical volition drawback a interruption they merit and get a just terms astatine the pump arsenic well."

Biden besides officially announced the merchandise of 15 cardinal barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The White House has released astir 165 cardinal barrels of crude from the SPR since the opening of the year, retired of a full that it said would beryllium astir 180 million. 

Biden promised to acquisition lipid to refill the SPR erstwhile the terms hits $70 a barrel. Companies then, Biden said, should put to summation accumulation present with the assurance that the authorities volition acquisition the lipid later.

"My connection to lipid companies is this: You're sitting connected grounds profits and we're giving you much certainty truthful you tin enactment present to summation lipid accumulation now," helium said.

Biden said if retailers and refiners were earning the mean nett they person made implicit the past 17 years, Americans would beryllium paying 60 cents little per gallon.