President Joe Biden said his administration has succeeded in bringing down pump prices of US fuel from seven-year highs through the release of emergency oil reserves and other measures, but the change will not yet be reflected in a key inflation report due Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2021) President Joe Biden said his administration has succeeded in bringing down pump prices of US fuel from seven-year highs through the release of emergency oil reserves and other measures, but the change will not yet be reflected in a key inflation report due Friday.
"The information being released tomorrow on energy in November does not reflect today's reality, and it does not reflect the expected price decreases in the weeks and months ahead, such as in the auto market," Biden said in a White House statement released ahead of Friday's Consumer Price Index report.
The so-called CPI report, which represents a basket of products ranging from gasoline and health care to groceries and rents, showed a 6.2% increase year-on-year in October, its most since November 1990.
For November, Biden said, the CPI should be elevated again, driven in part by energy prices and used car prices.
"Fortunately, in the weeks since the data for tomorrow's inflation report was collected, energy prices have dropped," the president said. "The price of gas at the pump has already begun to fall nationally, and real pump prices in 20 states are now lower than the 20-year average."
US pump prices of gasoline on the average were at $3.338 per gallon on Thursday, down from $3.419 a month ago, the American automobile Association said.
Despite the drop, they remained significantly higher from the year-ago level of $2.158, AAA figures showed.
The Biden administration managed to bring pump prices down from the 2014 highs they were at a month ago through the coordinated release of crude oil reserves with other consuming countries after producers under the OPEC+ alliance kept output tight in a global economy recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Benchmark US crude oil futures, which stood at seven-year highs above $85 in mid-October, fell last week to below $63 on the reserves release by the consuming countries, as well as on fears related to the discovery of a new COVID-19 variant called Omicron. This week, however, futures rebounded to above $70.
On the broader inflation front, Biden said natural gas prices were down more than 25% from their November average, providing a relief to the heating bills of Americans amid the cold season.
Used car prices on the wholesale market have also declined in recent weeks, alleviating pressure for both retailers and buyers, he said.
