"My message to the American energy companies is this: You should not be using your profits to buy back stock or for dividends. Not now. Not while a war is raging," Biden said."You should be using these record-breaking profits to increase production and refining."
Profits at the six largest publicly traded oil companies topped $70 billion in the second quarter, Biden said, adding that in the first half of the year, those companies spent $20 billion on buybacks. Biden promised to purchase oil to refill the strategic petroleum reserve once the price hits $70 a barrel.said oil companies need to use their record-profits to ramp up production rather than to enrich shareholders.
"My message to the American energy companies is this: You should not be using your profits to buy back stock or for dividends. Not now. Not while a war is raging," Biden said."You should be using these record-breaking profits to increase production and refining." Profits at the six largest publicly traded oil companies topped $70 billion in the second quarter, Biden said, adding that in the first half of the year, those companies spent $20 billion on buybacks."The most significant buyback in almost a decade," he said.