Stephanie Ruhel of MSNBC often says the really funny thing on her late night shows 11th hourBut this segment will really get you scratching your head. During the February inflation numbers and a fraction of the skyrocketing gas prices, Ruhel asked one of his guests why American oil companies could not drill for more oil. It seems unknown to Ruhel that the Biden administration has stimulated further domestic oil drilling.
After analyzing Thursday’s brutal inflation report, where inflation has risen to a new forty-year high, Ruhel returned with his two guests, CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Lizman and CNBC contributor Helima Croft, to discuss historically high gas prices.
“Helima, I wanted you to join us because obviously the price of gas is important. You are our product specialist. Oil companies. They are reporting record profits, and our oil companies need to do more drills. And they are rarely doing that.” Why is that? They have money, “Ruhel argues.
After repeatedly mumbling to Croft after some minor technical problems, he claimed that “even if they [oil companies] Put more rigs to work, we won’t see extra barrels of oil for another six months. We are now facing a significant supply crisis because Russia is just such a big oil and gas producer and companies are moving away from the country and we are starting to lose Russian exports. ”
Ruhel did not. He then went after the Keystone XL pipeline and told Croft, “Republicans are arguing that, if the Keystone pipeline is opened, we won’t have any of these problems.” Ruhel then asked Croft “Can you tell us this clearly for us because we are all here, we know it’s not true.”
Croft claims that if Biden “tomorrow is the Greenlight Keystone, it will not solve the current problem.” He then believes that Biden’s attempt to buy oil from Communist Venezuela would be a good idea:
I think we really need to focus on where the surplus oil can be kept in the market to try to resolve the supply crisis. That’s why President Biden is actually trying to get extra oil from OPEC, trying to get extra oil from countries like Venezuela, where possible sanctions need to be eased.
What Ruhel doesn’t understand is that oil companies can’t drill for oil wherever and whenever they want. They must obtain a permit from the Department of Energy. Which is unfortunately currently under the Biden administration. Ruhel also appears to be teasing White House press secretary Jane Saki, as Saki said last week that “there are nine thousand approved oil leases that oil companies are not currently tapping.”
As our sister website, CNSNews reports: Despite claims by Ruhel and Saki, “oil companies cannot start using approved oil leases to start pumping”
They must manage their reservoirs in an organized and secure manner and meet a number of regulatory requirements, such as an onsite inspection, environmental review and permit approval. This process can actually take up to 10 years. Experts say that if these companies start drilling more oil wells today, it could take six months to a few years for that oil to flow.
CNS News further noted that according to the Wall Street Journal, “Biden did not hold an event Coast Lease sales and the only president in at least two decades who has not done so in a given year. ”
That’s why oil companies can’t “drill more” without permission, despite their “record profits.”
This ridiculously ignorant segment was made possible by Safelite, Golden Corral and Chevrolet. Their information is attached.
Click “Extend” to read the relevant transcript:
11th hour of MSNBC
3/10/2022
11:26:05 pm EastStephanie Ruhel: Inflation is still rising, consumer prices are 7.9 percent higher than a year ago. This is the sharpest spike in 40 years. And be prepared, it could be worse. Let’s take a look at CNBC’s Senior Economics Reporter Steve Liesman and CNBC Contributor Helima Croft. Steve, these are really bad inflation numbers but it kept us in context. How do they fit into the overall economic picture?
Steve Liesman: This is probably the biggest negative of the economy right now. We got a couple of other good things going for us right now. At least in the fourth quarter we have a strong job growth and a reasonably good GDP growth. Omicron has probably been an inconvenience this quarter. But before the attack, it was expected to return. And what we’re going to see now is how the economy can respond now to not just high inflation, but a push for higher prices that is hurting the economy as a result of the Ukraine war.
Ruhl: Helima, I wanted you to join us because obviously gas prices are important. You specialize in our products. Oil companies. They are reporting record gains, and the oil companies need to drill more, what we need to do. And they’re barely doing that. Why is that? They have money!
[Silence]
Ruhel: Helima, I think you have silenced yourself.
Helima Croft: Oh, that’s right. In terms of oil companies, I mean, our oil companies are reporting record profits. The problem is, of course, they will drill more. Under the oil companies.
[Silence]
Ruhel: Halima, you have silenced yourself again.
Croft: It will take time. They are facing inflation, labor problems. So even if they put more rigs to work, we won’t see extra barrels of oil for another six months. We are now facing a significant supply crisis because Russia is just such a big oil and gas producer and companies are moving away from the country and we are starting to lose Russian exports.
Ruhul: Helima, Republicans are arguing that some people say that if the Keystone Pipeline had been opened, we would not have had any of these problems. Check it out for us because you can simply say, because, we’re all here, we know it’s not true.
KROFT: That means Keystone XL is about eight percent complete when President Biden cancels the project. But President Trump was one of the biggest supporters of Keystone XL. But due to the challenge of the court, it was detained in this country. So if we greenlight Keystone tomorrow, it won’t solve the current problem. And so I think we really need to focus on how much oil can be supplied to the market to try to resolve the supply crisis. That’s why President Biden is actually trying to get extra oil from OPEC, trying to get extra oil from countries like Venezuela, where possible sanctions need to be eased. This is a really difficult challenge for his administration at the moment. Again, we already have a very tight oil market. When people got on the plane, went to work again, we had a supply crisis, and now possibly we are losing one of the oil and gas producers from this market.