During an interview with Fox News Thursday afternoon, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna expressed disappointment and bewilderment over the Biden administration sending American oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to hostile countries overseas.
Ro Khanna (D-CA) blasts Biden for exporting American oil to foreign countries while gas prices soar:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 7, 2022
"I don’t understand why we aren’t having a ban on exports...people in my district, they're talking to me about gas prices, about higher food prices...airlines getting cancelled." pic.twitter.com/4pKyFvynWd
Khanna's comments come after a report from Reuters revealed millions of barrels of oil from the SPR were sent overseas as gas prices for Americans remain at record highs.
"More than 5 million barrels of oil that were part of a historic U.S. emergency reserves release to lower domestic fuel prices were exported to Europe and Asia last month, according to data and sources, even as U.S. gasoline and diesel prices hit record highs," Reuters reports. "The export of crude and fuel is blunting the impact of the moves by U.S. President Joe Biden to lower record pump prices. Biden on Saturday renewed a call for gasoline suppliers to cut their prices, drawing criticism from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos."
The White House Press Secretary is claiming ignorance.
Karine Jean-Pierre doesn’t know that millions of barrels of oil released from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve have been sent to foreign countries. pic.twitter.com/B51kV5XFC6
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 5, 2022
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia this month for meetings with King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He will ask them to pump more oil while restricting domestic production in the U.S.
NSC Spox John Kirby: Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Saudi king and and his leadership team, which will include Crown Prince MBS.
— Alex Ward (@alexbward) July 7, 2022