By David Gaffen
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Any oil and gas companies that can increase supply should do so quickly due to the growing energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in Houston on Wednesday.
“In this moment of crisis we need more supply,” Granholm told attendees at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. “Right now we need oil and gas production to rise to meet current demand.”
Granholm said President Joe Biden’s administration wants to act as a partner with the energy industry, which has complained about the White House’s push to hasten the transition to a lower-carbon economy.
On Tuesday, Biden banned Russian oil imports, a move that received some praise from several shale executives at CERAWeek in Houston. The White House had already imposed a series of sanctions on Russia that were affecting its vast oil-and-gas industry since it invaded Ukraine.
Granholm acknowledged that it was hard to balance the need for more oil and gas with the importance of the energy transition amid global warming. In recent days, Granholm and other U.S. officials have been more vocal about addressing the supply concerns as the administration has come under fire for rising fuel prices.
“We have to responsibly increase short-term supply where we can now to stabilize the market,” Granholm said.
(Reporting By David Gaffen; Editing by David Gregorio)
