U.S. President Joe Biden could take action as soon as this week to address soaring gasoline prices, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Monday.
“He’s certainly looking at what options he has in the limited range of tools a president might have to address the cost of gasoline at the pump, because it is a global market,” Granholm told MSNBC in an interview.
“Hopefully there will be an announcement or so this week,” she added but did not give any details.
On Saturday, Biden said the United States had tools to respond to high oil prices, after the oil producing countries that make up OPEC+ rebuffed U.S. pleas to pump more crude.
Oil prices have hit more than $80 a barrel, raising the cost of gasoline for consumers.
While recently passed infrastructure bill includes a wide-range of efforts aimed at moving away from oil and other fossil fuels in the longer term, Granholm said: “immediately, the president does not want to see people hurt at the pump, home heating oil, etcetera, which is why he is calling for an increase in supply right now.”
She noted OPEC controls the vast majority of the world’s oil supply, saying Biden “wants to see added supply from all.” Biden could authorize a sale from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is held in a series of caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts.