April 8th, 2022

The world is safer and the global economy is stronger and more stable when America is leading the way. This is especially true in the energy sector, and a series of common sense indicators this week will help us meet that goal. After the turmoil of the last weeks the world should be feeling a sense of relief that natural gas exports from the U.S. are increasing. LNG exports are expected to hit a record high this month which should bring some relief and price stability to our allies in Europe.

Furthermore, in support of his bill to reinstate the transportation of LNG via the nation’s rail network, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) stated, “Natural gas is the cleanest and safest burning fossil fuel; it is odorless, non-toxic, and non-corrosive. LNG rapidly evaporates and leaves no residue when exposed to open air, and unlike other fossil fuels, it is not explosive.”

Finally, the Supreme Court reinstated a Trump era rule that limited state governments and local authorities from dragging out reviews of much-needed infrastructure projects, like pipelines, for more than a year. Common-sense approaches like these supporting more domestic production of natural gas and the infrastructure that facilitates its transport and distribution are the key to energy security and affordability.

Bottom Line: The world is safer, stronger, and more stable when America leads the way on energy. LNG is the vessel for the U.S. to reestablish its energy dominance.

Americans are facing record-setting high prices every day. The increases in home utility bills can be directly connected to policies driven by Democrat controlled Washington. To his credit, President Biden seems to understand that in order to reduce price either supply must increase or demand must decrease. Demand has steadily increased over time as populations grow and that trend doesn’t seem to be changing. So rather than reverse course on over a year of attacks on the American energy industry which destabilized energy markets, he has chosen to increase supply artificially and temporarily by tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

According to the Department of Energy, the SPR is “the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil [and] was established primarily to reduce the impact of disruptions in supplies of petroleum products.” While the President has the authority to draw down the supply, the historical actions have been due to war or acts of God. President Biden’s plan to release 1 million barrels per day for 180 days is the largest release for the purpose of fixing policy missteps. “A 180-million-barrel reserve release will be quite a draw on the U.S. SPR, which currently stands at over 580 million barrels. If oil’s fundamentals remain the same, prices will not be lower when the time to replenish the SPR comes.”

It took decades to fill the reserves and provide us with the national security to weather any international conflict (at least for a little while) and this president is removing over a third of that volume in less than six months. Hopefully, there is no ongoing or potential for conflict between major powers in the near future.

For over a year this Administration has issued policies that harmed our country’s ability to produce its own energy sources and ceded energy dominance to antagonistic geopolitical rivals. Ultimately leading to sky high prices for American families. Rather than course correcting policy, the Biden administration is doubling down on them while trying to smooth things over by artificially increasing supply from our strategic reserve.

Bottom Line: The SPR is for national emergencies, not electoral emergencies. This last-ditch effort by the Biden team to save his sinking poll numbers won’t work, but it will weaken our national security.

At a recent press conference President Biden promoted his memo for using the Defense Production Act as a way to boost domestic mining. Mining is critical to the green agenda as rare earth metals are a major component of batteries and solar panels. The volumes needed for these materials are staggering.

Rather than doubling down on inefficient “green” resources and technology, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has been suggesting that a better application of the DPA would be to improve our national pipeline infrastructure. Pipelines have been under attack by this administration resulting in a lack of access to communities that most need access to this inexpensive fuel.

Domestic rare earth mineral mines face opposition due to their sizable footprint and environmental impact but what the green new dealers are not telling you is how much less of an impact pipelines have on the environment and local communities. To put a finer point on the hypocrisy, they claim to be on the side of the environment but their “solutions” don’t solve the problem, they just change it. The solution is to invest in our nation’s domestic infrastructure to improve access to clean affordable natural gas.

Bottom Line: At a time when he should be focused on expanding traditional energy infrastructure, President Biden is using the DPA to “boost domestic mining.” The world is demanding more gas, and pipelines are the best way to get it to market. 

The past week saw the biggest decline in gas prices in quite some time, with the national average for a gallon dropping 8 cents from $4.22 to $4.14. This drop follows the SPR-release announcement, as well as the Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill where Democrats blamed big oil companies for price gouging consumers, which is completely ignoring reality.