Biden administration pushes to boost East Coast oil inventories amid production cuts

The Biden administration's attempt to boost oil inventories is being met with pushback from ExxonMobil, Yahoo Finance reporter Ines Ferre says.

Video transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: All right, well, ExxonMobil's CEO is arguing against the Biden administration's push to limit fuel exports. Yahoo Finance's Ines Ferre joins us with the details. Hey, Ines.

INES FERRE: Hi, Rachelle. That's right. And the Biden administration wants to limit fuel exports because what it's trying to do is increase the inventories of fuel in the East Coast. Well, the ExxonMobil sent a letter to the energy department. It was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. And it was signed by Darren Woods, the CEO of ExxonMobil. And basically, what he's warning about is refineries in the Gulf Coast creating a glut there because this fuel would not really get to the East Coast.

Basically, this glut would cause refineries to stop or to cut down on their output. Now, fuel exports are near record highs right now. And this is simply because of the energy crisis that's going on in Europe. We know that diesel, we know that heating oil will be in demand as the winter comes in. And this is really, though, a continuation of the push-pull between the energy industry and the Biden administration.

Now, you do have gasoline prices that are at an average of $3.79 per gallon. Remember when they were above $5 per gallon back in June. Well, they have eased somewhat. And part of this, of course, is because of the price of oil. If we look at our YFi Interactive, WTI today down. But I'm going to pull up a quarter to date because this is significant. WTI down 23% quarter to date. You've got Brent crude that's down 18% quarter to date.

This is because of recession fears. This is because of the lockdowns in China. And it's also because of the strong dollar. And you can expect to perhaps see oil rally somewhat next week if OPEC+ announces production cuts, guys.

DAVE BRIGGS: All right, Ines Ferre, thanks so much for that. Appreciate it. Enjoy the weekend as well.