Chevron Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth called on President Joe Biden to stop criticizing the oil and gas industry and demanded a “change in approach toward US energy policy.”
There are no easy fixes to record gasoline prices, but the administration needs to work with oil and gas producers, Wirth said in a letter ahead of a meeting with the Department of Energy this week. Wirth will be one of several CEOs gathering with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on June 23 in an attempt to develop policies that would help ease the pain at the pump.
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“Your Administration has largely sought to criticize, and at times vilify, our industry,” Wirth wrote. “These actions are not beneficial to meeting the challenges we face and are not what the American people deserve.”
With midterm elections just months away, Biden and his allies have sought to blame oil and gas companies for making excessive profits at a time of war in Europe and at consumers’ cost. He called out Exxon Mobil Corp. earlier this month for making “more money than God” and asked energy companies to reinvest more of their profits in short-term production. Last week, Biden allies pressed the case that refiners were taking advantage high profit margins.
Many in the industry view Biden’s call for more oil production as a frustratingly radical U-turn from earlier in his presidency, when he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, restricted oil leases and called for a long-term phase out of fossil fuels.
“You have called on our industry to increase energy production. We agree. Let’s work together,” Wirth said in the letter. He said Chevron needs clarity and consistency on a range of policies, including leasing and permitting on federal land, the ability to build infrastructure such as pipelines, and consideration of costs and benefits when developing regulations.
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