The true causes of high gas prices are complicated, and ultimately, prices are set by supply and demand—not by the whims of individual companies. (Otherwise, they’d always set them as high as they could. But other suppliers and customer demand keep companies’ prices in check). Today’s high gas prices are influenced by international market dynamics involving OPEC, supply chain issues created by government pandemic restrictions, federal policies restricting the energy sector, and the Federal Reserve’s rampant money-printing that is fueling widespread consumer price inflation. So, too, some of the current increase represents a correction after 2020, a year of lockdowns, which saw unusually low demand for gas and even negative oil prices at one point.
Having “shut down oil and gas leasing on federal land and directed executive agencies to eliminate spending that serves to subsidize fossil fuel industries. Even as benchmark crude prices increased, Biden’s policies forced developers to abandon transit pipelines such as the Keystone XL pipeline, among others:” Biden orders release of 50 million barrels of oil to drive down gas prices.