As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues ramping up global oil prices, the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, is now suggesting the United States must increase its domestic oil production in order to avert the crisis.
Musk, who has long been an advocate of climate change, and is the man behind the mighty electric car manufacturing company Tesla, opposed dependency on oil and gas drilling throughout his life.
Elon Musk wants Biden to drill more oil in America
On Friday, Elon Musk tweeted this is the time for America to increase oil and gas output “immediately.”
The billionaire is an ardent supporter of climate change; so he often thought clean energy was the future.
However, this time, Musk noted these are “extraordinary times,” so “extraordinary measures” need to be taken in order to get rid of these crises.
Musk even acknowledged this step would negatively impact his electric car giant, Tesla. Though, he claimed clean energy solutions could not cover up the oil and gas shortage at these sort of testing times when demands have to be met instantaneously.
As concerns about Russian oil are rising and bipartisan lawmakers are stepping forward to outlaw Russian oil imports, the Biden administration is still reluctant to take conclusive actions against Russia.
However, Musk is of the view that the Russian invasion of Ukraine must be responded to by increasing oil production at home.
.@elonmusk calls for increase in US oil, gas production to combat Russia despite negative effect on Teslahttps://t.co/ULxg090PdV
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 5, 2022
While Elon Musk extended his sympathies to Ukrainians, he also stated he feels bad for Russians who do not want all the persisting crises, but are pushed into them.
Musk’s opinion was backed by many industry leaders as well. His tweet got over 20,000 retweets in under half an hour.
Last year, Tesla reached new heights. The company delivered 936,172 electric vehicles in a single year, which is almost double the number the company produced in the whole of 2020.
Biden administration still dependent on Russian oil
Republican lawmaker Lauren Boebert was quick to respond to Musk’s comments. She stated by denying oil production at home, America is currently funding Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine.
Oil and gas exports are a major contributor to Russian revenue every year. The country amasses nearly $500 million daily from its petroleum-related exports, which roughly makes half of the revenue generated by the country.
After Biden assumed the highest office, the US oil imports hit a record high last year as the country imported about 700,000 barrels per day on average.
This prompted lawmakers from both parties to push the administration not to rely on fossil fuels products from Russia.
WATCH: It makes no sense at all for the United States to be buying millions of barrels of Russian oil and other petroleum products while Russia attacks the free and sovereign nation of Ukraine. That's why I'm calling on @POTUS to immediately stop all imports from Russia. pic.twitter.com/2Npde27X31
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) March 1, 2022
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine is intensifying with no signs of normalcy, the concerns are rising that oil prices will break historical records.
The crude oil price hike has already been increased to $120 per barrel in recent times as the global oil supply tightened.
