Biden urges oil companies to boost supply, slams high profit margins as 'not acceptable' in new letter

President Joe Biden is calling on major oil refinery companies to take "immediate actions" to ramp up supply, telling them in a new letter that "historically high" profit margins are unacceptable at a time when Americans continue to see soaring prices at the gas pump.

The letter is part of Biden's effort to shift blame for soaring gas prices, which have become a major political problem, though the reality remains that there is not much he can do about it.

"At a time of war, refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable," the President writes in a letter dated Tuesday that was sent to seven companies. "There is no question that Vladimir Putin is principally responsible for the intense financial pain the American people and their families are bearing. But amid a war that has raised gasoline prices more than $1.70 per gallon, historically high refinery profit margins are worsening that pain."