Thursday, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) released a statement following President Biden’s announcement that his administration will release an unprecedented amount of oil from our Nation’s emergency reserves and levy increased fees on federal oil and gas leaseholders:

“President Biden is putting our country into a dangerous situation by drawing down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to the lowest level since 1984 with the largest release of our national reserve ever—one million barrels per day for the next six months. The SPR is of huge strategic importance to our national security and economic stability in times of war. Our foreign adversaries know the Biden Administration lacks a strong energy strategy, and his demonization of American oil and gas producers with his policies is shameful and purely political.

“Rather than tapping into our reserves, President Biden should be approving pipelines, cutting the bureaucratic red tape, and fixing the supply chain issues that oil and gas producers are experiencing in my district every day. The Administration needs to be advocating for American producers, not against them. President Biden must not play politics with such a critical issue. Energy security is national security.”