Oil and gas exec rips Biden admin's 'disingenuous' support of industry

Mack Energy Corp. Director of Government Affairs Claire Chase argued on Tuesday that the United States is currently facing a "crisis of President Biden’s making" as it pertains to oil and gas.

"If he [Biden] had allowed us to continue to drill the way that we were under President Trump I don’t think we would be seeing $130 oil today," she told "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" on Tuesday. 

Chase also slammed President Biden's "disingenuous" support for the industry, pointing to his energy policies. 

In a series of orders aimed at combating climate change, President Biden temporarily suspended the issuance of oil and gas permits on federal lands and waters and canceled the Keystone XL oil pipeline project.

President Biden revoked the permit for the 1,700-mile pipeline on his first day in office, ending a project that was expected to employ more than 11,000 Americans last year.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BNO	UNITED STATES BRENT OIL FUND - USD ACC	29.82	+0.25	+0.85%
USO	UNITED STATES OIL FUND - USD ACC	74.25	+1.05	+1.43%

Chase made the comments as the price of oil continued to soar following the president’s announcement that his administration is banning Russian oil, natural gas and coal imports to the United States in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Today I am announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia's economy. We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy," Biden said during remarks from the White House. "That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at US ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine."

The decision was made in "close consultation" with U.S. allies and partners around the world, particularly in Europe.

The surge in the price of oil past $130 per barrel on Monday was triggered by the possibility the U.S. might bar crude imports from Russia. Oil prices steadied later in the day and were moderately higher Tuesday afternoon at around the $131 level for Brent crude and $127 per barrel for the U.S. benchmark.

Chase told host Neil Cavuto on Tuesday that now that Biden has changed his tune regarding banning Russian oil imports, there is now "a hope" that the president will also make "the right move" towards domestic oil production. 

"It’s just been really difficult to understand what President Biden has been thinking since the day that he took office," she said. "I mean as we look at his actions, he went ahead and banned the Keystone pipeline almost immediately and signaled that he was going to make it more difficult for us to drill by putting a hold on federal leases, by doing a number of things, and then going ahead and agreeing with Nord Stream 2." 

GAS PRICES ABOVE $4 PER GALLON AS RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR IMPACTS SUPPLY, DISRUPTING GLOBAL MARKET

White House press secretary Jen Psaki Monday sought to dispute claims that Biden administration's policies are preventing domestic drilling. 

Referring to a comment she had made earlier during the White House press briefing that the Biden administration was "going to do everything we can" to reduce the prices at the pump, Fox News' Peter Doocy pressed Psaki to clarify why the administration is asking other countries to pump more oil instead of producing more oil at home.

When Psaki claimed federal policies are not limiting the supplies of oil and gas domestically, Doocy pointed out that Biden issued an executive order halting new oil production at public plants.

Psaki said 90% of leases are on public lands and that there are 9,000 unused drilling permits.

Speaking with Cavuto, Chase said that "9,000 leases available is such a misleading number." 

She went on to say it is "a complicated situation," noting that "we have permits but, we are facing the same issues that other industries are facing, with the supply chain, with labor shortages. So we can all have all the permits in the world, but if we can’t get the casing to protect the groundwater, then we can’t drill." 

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She went on to point out that "we also need to get the rights-of-way for our roads to access that lease or for the lines that we need to move the products," which she said is controlled by the Department of the Interior, which she argued "has been very slow to get us answers on those rights-of-way." 

"So I think it’s really sort of a disingenuous figure to say, ‘We’re being very supportive’ when from day one the signal to oil and gas companies has been, ‘we don’t want you drilling on federal land.’ So as a result we are making the choice to invest elsewhere and to slow down," Chase continued. 

She then went on to say that "we’re ready" and "willing" to increase production. Chase acknowledged that "it’s going to take a little bit of time to get online," but pointed out that "we can supply the world with the cleanest natural gas and fossil fuels on the planet." 

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Fox Business’ Jon Brown and Fox News' Peter Doocy contributed to this report.