America’s Energy Conundrum

High prices pose a political risk at home, but allies abroad are desperate for aid

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The message from President Joe Biden’s administration to oil executives was familiar, but the tone was more urgent than ever. Help us protect consumers at home by sending less American-made fuel overseas and boosting stockpiles, US officials pleaded during a virtual meeting in late September, one in a series of similar gatherings held this year with companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Marathon Petroleum Corp. Yet again, industry leaders didn’t budge.

The White House is now taking a closer look at what it once considered a radical option: limits on gasoline and diesel exports. If imposed, the restrictions would be the latest step in the administration’s crusade to tackle energy inflation, which has included an unprecedented release of emergency oil reserves and a notably unsuccessful bid to prevent OPEC from reducing output.

It’s a delicate balance. As one of the world’s top producers of oil and natural gas, the US is facing calls from its allies in Europe and around the globe to help ease an energy crisis that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has inflamed. But with only weeks to go before the midterm elections, the US is also under pressure to help Americans who have been hit by price gains for everything including gasoline and food.

The Biden administration is “being very careful to reassure European allies that we are going to continue supplying energy,” says Kevin Book, managing director of research company ClearView Energy Partners LLC. “They’re also being very careful not to make it seem like American energy is going to other countries” and to prove they’re shielding US consumers.