BISMARCK – The North Dakota Petroleum Council has issued a response to Wednesday’s statement from the White House calling on OPEC+ to increase production.

“Since he took office, President Biden has been using every tool available to hamstring our domestic oil and gas industry. Immediately signing Executive Orders to stop leasing of federal resources and instructing every level of the federal government to draft rules and regulations to restrict our ability to produce affordable and reliable energy here in the United States,” said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council.

“Feeling pressure from consumers faced with high gas prices and trying to recover from the economic devastation of 2020, the Biden Administration is now urging OPEC+ to increase production to ensure competitive energy markets. If the White House actually cared about Americans having access to ‘affordable and reliable’ energy, as they claim in their statement, they would be taking every step necessary to facilitate increased production here in America and ease off their plans to regulate our domestic industry out of business. We don’t need OPEC, a cartel made up of nations that wish to do us harm, to produce more oil. We need our leaders to let us do what we do best, produce American oil and support American jobs and economic growth right here at home,” Ness said.