Energy information chief blames market for high fuel prices

The head of the country’s energy statistics agency testified Tuesday that market forces, rather than specific policies taken by the Biden administration, were to blame for high fuel prices. 

The remarks by Stephen Nalley, acting administrator of the Energy Information Administration (EIA), came during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. 

“World consumption of petroleum is recovering faster than production, which is resulting in steady draws on global oil inventories and upward pressure on prices,” Nalley said, in his opening remarks. 

The EIA is considered a nonpolitical statistics agency within the Energy Department.

The Energy and Natural Resources panel, which is led by Sen. Joe ManchinJoe ManchinBiden signs trillion infrastructure bill into law The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by Facebook – Trump officials face legal consequences over defying subpoenas The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by ExxonMobil – Will Biden’s big bill pass the House this week? MORE (D-W.Va.), put together the hearing to examine the causes, outlook and implications of energy price trends, which are currently high both in the U.S. and around the world.

Nalley argued that currently prices are high because oil supply is not recovering as quickly as demand. A contributor to this imbalance, he said, is less enthusiasm from investors amid the economic downturn.

“One of the major contributing factors is the economic downturn,” he said. “Investors were hit pretty hard financially. I think they’re trying to reposition themselves for the long term, so there’s been a lot of written speculation about why they’re not coming back into the market.”

Nalley also predicted that oil prices would remain high this year but could see a drop next year.

“We expect global oil prices to remain near current levels for the rest of this year but to drop by about $10 per barrel next year as production increases in the United States, OPEC, and other countries,” he said, referring to a group of oil-exporting nations.

He also said the agency believes that home heating bills in the U.S. will increase this winter.

As of Tuesday, gasoline prices were situated at about $3.41 per gallon on average and have remained above $3 for months. They dipped last year because of the coronavirus, as fewer people were traveling or commuting, but have since bounced back higher than they were before the pandemic.

Republicans have hammered Democrats over gasoline prices and inflation, criticizing both the Biden administration’s policies and Democratic lawmakers’ efforts to pass a major spending package in Congress.

These same criticisms extended into the hearing as the GOP took aim at both the administration’s policies and their Democratic colleagues. 

“The House Democrats’ bill will increase energy prices,” said Sen. John BarrassoJohn Anthony BarrassoThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by ExxonMobil – Will Biden’s big bill pass the House this week? Barrasso…