OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Rep. Lauren Boebert showed up to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night wearing a dress adorned with three words that are critical of his energy policies.
Boebert’s black outfit featured three words in gold lettering: “Drill baby, drill” — a slap at Biden’s reversals of Trump-era policies aimed at harvesting more U.S.-based fossil fuels, which led to the country becoming energy independent for the first time in decades.
Also, the stunt came as gas prices hit a seven-year high this week; “notably, Biden has canceled the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and recently halted new oil and gas leases indefinitely,” The Daily Wire reported.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) approvingly posted a photo of the Colorado Republican’s outfit to Twitter.
My friend @laurenboebert at #SOTU
Drill Baby Drill! pic.twitter.com/iW1yV1gju4
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 2, 2022
“Oil prices surged Tuesday, with U.S. crude hitting its highest level since June 2014 as Russia bears down on Ukraine’s capital,” CNBC News reported just a few hours before Biden gave his address Tuesday night.
“West Texas Intermediate crude Futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, jumped 11.5% at the highs of the day to $106.78 per barrel. The contract eased off that level during afternoon trading and ended the session at $103.41, for a gain of 8.03%,” the outlet continued.
Fox Business, meanwhile, added, “The U.S. and its allies released 60M barrels of oil into the market, with America pushing the lion’s share of 30M on Tuesday, to temper rising crude prices. The problem is, it didn’t work.”
Earlier Wednesday morning, oil prices hit $111 a barrel.
According to OilPrice.com, the U.S. shale industry is on the upswing again, but major issues are preventing it from dramatically ramping up production, industry leaders point out:
U.S. shale production is back in growth mode, but inflation and supply chain bottlenecks could hobble the growth trajectory this year despite the tempting economics of $100 oil.
The United States is set to post an annual record of 12.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil production in 2023, while this year’s average is forecast at 12 million bpd, up by 760,000 bpd from last year, according to EIA’s latest estimates.
Yet, cost inflation, labor and equipment shortages, and continued restraint in spending and drilling from the biggest public independents could slow output growth. The U.S. shale patch is set to play a more minor role in potentially bringing down international crude oil prices and American gasoline prices than it did in the previous upcycles when annual growth topped 1.2 million bpd in 2019 and 1.6 million bpd in 2018.
“We think the U.S. is definitely going to face some headwinds in growth on this year,” Ezra Yacob, chief executive of shale giant EOG Resources, said on an earnings call last week.
“When we think about the growth forecasts that are out there and have been publicly discussed, we’re probably a bit more on the lower end in general on the crude and condensate side. And the reason for that is I think you’re seeing commitment from the North American E&P space to remain disciplined and then you couple that with some of the inflationary and supply chain pressures,” Yacob added.
As for Biden’s speech, it did not appear to help him or his Democratic Party much, according to mainstream outlets that are normally friendly to the left.
According to CNN, Biden’s “very positive” reaction rating was the lowest it’s been for a president in more than two decades.
“A 71% majority of Americans who watched President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address had a positive reaction to the speech, according to a CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, with a more modest 41% reacting very positively,” the network reported Wednesday morning.
And USA Today op-ed contributor Scott Jennings noted that Biden’s speech did nothing to help his abysmal approval ratings or his party.
“President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address offered a chance for a flagging presidency to reset and pivot, perhaps giving his party a new message to sell in the upcoming midterms,” Jennings wrote. “But for Democrats, the chance was missed. The president offered nothing new.”
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