Trump threatened OPEC in April of 2020 as the pandemic was picking up steam across the US. Trumps efforts weren't to lower gas prices, but to save our oil industry. His quote was, "We are defending your industry while your destroying ours".
It was OPEC, particularly Saudi Arabia, that was dumping oil on the market and driving futures prices into negative numbers. Trump didn't need to get lower prices, he needed to protect one of the few large scale industries we had left.
China, until November of 2018, imported nearly 1 million barrels per day from the US. In response to the tariffs, they canceled US imports and began buying from Iran.
Why isn't OPEC dumping oil into the market under Biden? Why even after begging they won't help him out?
Why was gas still cheap until 2021 when they stopped the practice in 2018?
And we had enough production we could export to them. We don't have enough refining capacity in the U.S. to keep more of our oil in the States as we have only so much storage capacity. It has to go somewhere. But as far as the trade imbalance it was cancelled ag commodities that was the huge issue with China.
They only ramp up production when they feel they can squash a competing country.
OPEC had a dispute with Russia about production and prices and dumped a lot of oil onto the market to teach Putin a lesson.
Then who will give me free stuff?
So they feel like they can squash Biden but didn't feel like it with Trump? OK I buy that.
Amazing we had none of these problems until Biden gets in... Why? Also how did Trump know these problems was going to happen once Biden got in? He did predict oil prices rising.
The Arabs respect strength.
Huh, OPEC (Saudi's) ramped up production a couple times in recent history. Once to squash the US fracking industry and once to teach Putin a lesson.
We had $80 oil during the Trump years.
Covid closures meant low demand. As the world opened up, the prices began to rise. We traveled to Mexico in March of 2021 and had to be tested before returning. The plane had 45 people on it and the resort was at 30% capacity. We walked into O'hare on departure day and there were less than 25 people in the International Terminal.
And only strength…
Yet they didn’t squash fracking under Trump yet Biden squashed it on his own.
COVID didn’t hit until 2020. Trump had 3 years before that with low gas prices.
The two big American frackers filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and 2020. (Chesapeake and Anadarko) while Chevron wrote down massive loses.
That's true. China cutting demand and subsides kept prices low.
