If a president announces a release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — which they often do prior to elections — then that can cause a brief dip in the price of oil, and subsequently gasoline.
President Bush took over during the early s recession, which was caused in part by the dot-com bust. That is largely responsible for keeping oil prices in check during his first term. Imports of crude oil and finished products had been rising for years, but they reached an all-time-high in the U. OPEC was gaining increasing pricing power, and they were slow to respond to the ongoing decline of U. That led to oil prices that continued to spiral higher. That spike in prices helped push the U.
President Obama took over during this recession in early , and hence he received the benefit of low gasoline prices during his first year in office. By U. By the time President Trump assumed office, OPEC had learned their lesson, and was back to trying to curb production to influence prices. But the continued rise of U. While they were able to boost prices somewhat, the power they had to boost prices a decade earlier had diminished. Then the Covid pandemic hit in , and that helped send oil prices all the way into negative territory.
Now, in early global oil demand is starting to recover as we start to exit from the pandemic. That, in turn, is helping lift oil prices back to the level they were in This is the main reason gasoline prices are back on the rise. Just before Bush left office at the end of , gas prices were cut in half within a couple of months as the economy crashed. In the Bay Area and California, the trend is the same, just with more at stake since our gas prices are typically about 30 cents higher than the national average.
Yet politicians on both sides repeatedly seize on gas price anxiety to appeal to car-happy Americans, particularly in election seasons. Obama, meanwhile, campaigned in at a gas station to blame Bush for record gas prices; this year, he poked fun at other politicians for doing the same.
Neither the Romney nor Obama campaigns returned messages requesting comment. When asked the same question of Obama this year, the results reversed: 33 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Republicans said the president had control of gas prices. The short-term benefit of lower gas prices came at a cost. Saudi Arabia is already reducing oil production and pushing oil prices higher. It is doubtful they will be as compliant when it comes to future requests that they pump more oil.
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Jun 22, , am EDT. Reuters debunked other Facebook posts making the link between this photograph and Obama here. The photograph next to Trump is similarly not from the time of his administration. The photo, by the Associated Press, was taken on Jan. The photo is featured in news reports from here , here , here. Former president Obama was in office between Jan.
President Trump has been in office since Jan.
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