WH says falling gas prices matter more than OPEC numbers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia last month on the possibility that he could get some additional oil production out of OPEC+ in coming weeks — but the cartel and other nations announced a scant increase on Wednesday.

The White House responded by stressing that what matters is the steady decline in oil and gasoline prices from summer highs, not the actions taken by OPEC+ to pump an additional 100,000 barrels of oil in September. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that the decline began June 14, the day the administration disclosed plans for Biden's trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“The fact of the matter is that oil and gas prices are coming down,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at Wednesday's White House briefing. “The moment he announced his trip we saw gas prices and oil prices coming down.”

While there may be a correlation, it’s unclear whether the announced trip caused prices to decline. Oil prices can be determined by a wide range of factors including changes in supply, the pace of economic growth, geopolitical events and extreme weather.

Behind Jean-Pierre in the briefing room was a blue chart that showed a 17% drop in average U.S. gas costs since prices peaked at around $5 a gallon. AAA puts the current national average at $4.16 a gallon. Still, oil prices are 31% above their prices last year, frustrating voters ahead of the midterm elections and heightening concerns about an economic downturn in the U.S. and Europe as central banks try to get inflation under control.

Energy prices jumped after Russia, a major energy producer, invaded Ukraine in late February. That prompted a series of sanctions and other measures at a time when refining capacity was tight and oil production was still recovering from the pandemic...