Gas prices could drop below $4 per gallon on average in the coming weeks, Amos Hochstein, the senior adviser of energy security to the Biden administration, told CBS News’ "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Hochstein said many gas stations were already selling gas at less than $4 per gallon, pointing out that just a few weeks ago the price was more than $5.
"This is the fastest decline rate that we've seen against a major increase of oil prices during a war in Europe, where one of the parties in the war [Russia] is the third-largest producer in the world," said Hochstein. "These are extraordinary circumstances."
Hochstein, who accompanied President Joe Biden on his trip to Saudi Arabia over the weekend, said that "there is still more room to see additional steps in the coming weeks," based on discussions there and over the past several months and weeks with OPEC.
Hochstein pointed out that just a few days before Biden announced his trip, OPEC+ announced a major change in policy with a 50% increase in oil supply for July and August.
He also said that Biden intends to continue releasing 1 million barrels of oil a day from a national stockpile until the end of the year to help ease prices, stepping in until the private sector in the United States is able to increase production by about that same amount.
Another idea to help decrease the cost of oil pushed by the Biden administration is putting a cap on the price of Russian oil that is sold so that it's not cutting back on the amount but rather the windfall profits Moscow can make off of it.
Hochstein said that "we're now starting to have the conversations with the major consumers" regarding this idea and that at the G-7 a couple of weeks ago, they endorsed it as a good plan.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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