Consensus eludes Biden team weighing fuel price action for weeks

One hour after U.S. government data showed on Wednesday that American inflation had soared to a 31-year high, President Joe Biden vowed to fight the surge as “a top priority.”

One hour after U.S. government data showed on Wednesday that American inflation had soared to a 31-year high, President Joe Biden vowed to fight the surge as “a top priority.”

Key to his administration’s response, Biden said in a statement, would be addressing the rising cost of energy -- what he described as “the largest share of the increase in prices.” He promised his National Economic Council would explore how to reduce prices.

The reality is that a small group of top Biden aides has already been meeting for several weeks, trying to come up with the best way to bring down the cost of gasoline. But even after extensive discussions, they’ve yet to reach consensus, according to people familiar with the matter. Some key officials at the Energy Department are inclined to take a wait-and-see approach. But White House aides are pushing to tap the nation’s emergency oil reserves, or to take the even more radical step of halting oil exports, the people said.

The indecision had dragged out any real action from the administration as gasoline prices have soared to seven-year highs. It also underscores how the pressure to tamp down inflation has pitted the Biden administration’s own policies on energy, free trade and climate change against each other. The final decision, which may not come until early next week once international climate talks in Glasgow are over, is likely to have a profound impact on the oil market, and spill over American foreign policy.

“It’s decision time for the Biden administration,” said Bob McNally president of consultant Rapidan Energy Group and a former White House official under President George W. Bush.