这可能是新的一年，但乔·拜登总统与该国主要天然气公司的争执仍在继续。
拜登对雪佛龙和埃克森美孚等石油巨头提出异议，这些石油巨头去年一直在赚取利润——尤其是在 灼热的通货膨胀 和俄罗斯在乌克兰的战争。
不要错过
现在，石油和天然气行业正在加剧这种情况。
在 1 月 11 日于华盛顿举行的年度演讲中，美国石油协会主席迈克·萨默斯 (Mike Sommers) 将国内石油和天然气生产放缓归咎于白宫的“一连串负面言论”。
随着天然气价格仍然高企，许多家庭蒙混过关 昂贵的冬天，拜登与该国石油公司之间的紧张关系可能意味着未来几个月情况只会变得更糟。
拜登没有含糊其词
拜登甚至在上任之前就一直在与石油公司开战，但他在去年 11 月将其升级，称石油公司创纪录的利润是“战争的意外收获”，而不是任何“新的或创新的”东西的结果。
他继续劝告他们“超越狭隘的自身利益行事”，并代表“他们的消费者、他们的社区和他们的国家”“通过增加生产和炼油能力来投资美国”。
如果他们不这样做呢？ 拜登警告说，他们将面临“对他们的超额利润征收更高的税和……更高的限制”。
不久之后，拜登的总统特别协调员阿莫斯·霍赫施泰因告诉英国《金融时报》，公司没有利用这些创纪录的利润来投资增加产量是“不美国的”和“对……公众不公平的”。
拜登似乎提议征收“暴利”税，将利润重新分配给美国消费者 在泵上支付鼻子.
“是时候让这些公司停止从战争中牟取暴利，履行他们在这个国家的责任，让美国人民喘口气了，”拜登补充道。
石油公司反击
虽然汽油价格已从 6 月份超过 5 美元/加仑的历史高位回落，但目前仍徘徊在 3.28 美元左右。 而且，连同一个 危险的低油供应 和 一种 柴油库存减少 显然是在给拜登打压。
但石油公司辩称，他们已经在为这项事业做出贡献。 埃克森美孚首席执行官达伦伍兹在 10 月 28 日公司第三季度财报电话会议上向拜登发表讲话。
“美国一直在讨论我们的行业将我们的部分利润直接返还给美国人民，”伍兹说。 “这正是我们以季度股息的形式所做的。”
总统对此并不友善， 在推特上发表他的回应 几个小时后：“不敢相信我不得不这么说，但将利润分给股东与为美国家庭降低价格是不一样的。”
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The issue has become political
But all this back-and-forth could only be aggravating the situation. A blog post from the Institute for Energy Research accused the Energy Department of asking them to “undersell their product” and accused Biden of using the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve “as a political tool to lower gasoline prices.”
And in an interview with Bloomberg, Sommers from the American Petroleum Institute said the signals Biden is sending discourage investment in the oil and gas industry “does harm to capital.”
“If the government signals support for American energy, it would boost investor confidence in future projects to unleash needed supplies and strengthen infrastructure,” Sommers says.
Biden does seem prepared to compromise, though. According to another report in Bloomberg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm addressed oil and gas executives in Washington in mid-December at a meeting of the National Petroleum Council, an outside federal advisory group with members from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
“We are eager to work with you,” Granholm said, adding that fossil fuels are likely to be around for a while.
She also acknowledged the administration has “butted heads” with the industry, referring to it as the “elephant in the room.” And with growing demand and a shortage of diesel in the northeast, she says the administration is aware fossil fuel production will need to increase soon.
Don’t expect Biden to capitulate
Still, the president isn’t likely to cave entirely.
Just a few short months ago in November, Exxon and Chevron, two of the country’s biggest oil companies, reported hefty profits for the fourth consecutive quarter. That same day, in a briefing from the White House, Biden pointed out that six of the largest companies “made $70 billion in profit” in just 90 days.
Appalled that all that money was going back to their shareholders and executives, Biden issued a promise: “I’m going to keep harping on it. [These companies] 说我挑剔他们，他们还什么都没看到。 我是认真的。 这让我很生气。”
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