By TIPP EDITORIAL BOARD, TIPP Insights

Here we go again. First, it was the “pariah” nation, Saudi Arabia. Next, it is brutal socialist Venezuela.

President Biden was disappointed when OPEC+ announced planned cuts of two billion barrels a day on Wednesday. The blow was severe, given his administration had dispatched senior officials to encourage the Saudi government not to cut oil production ahead of its Wednesday decision. A CNN report described the White House as”having a spasm and panicking.”

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.87. Gasbuddy estimates that the production cuts would increase it by another 15 to 30 cents a gallon.

A jilted Biden bragged that he had alternatives. Really, what are they?

We saw one from a report in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

Biden is reaching out to Nicolás Maduro, the brutal dictator in Venezuela. According to the Journal, the administration is considering relaxing oil sanctions and allowing Chevron to resume oil production. In exchange for the sanctions relief, the Maduro regime must resume talks with the opposition to discuss the terms and conditions for holding “free and fair” presidential elections in 2024.

For context, following the rigged elections in 2018, Nicolás Maduro refused to resign as Venezuela’s president. The United States does not recognize him as Venezuela’s legitimate president. Sixty countries, including the United States, recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president. However, the so-called ‘opposition’ cannot govern or exercise power.

In retaliation, the Trump administration imposed tough sanctions on Venezuela in 2019.

When the Russia-Ukraine conflict began in February, the optics of importing Russian oil did not look good for the Biden administration.

In March, the Biden administration, desperate for oil from anywhere but the United States, sent senior administration officials on a secret weekend trip to Caracas, the first high-level visit to meet Maduro. The discussions focused on lifting sanctions in exchange for oil.

In August 2022, Venezuela produced 723,000 barrels of oil per day. Maduro has claimed the nation can produce 2 million barrels per day. Even if the Biden administration reaches a deal with Venezuela, it is uncertain it can become a major oil supplier, as it was in the 1990s.

Ironically, President Biden and his Green friends are overlooking the conditions on the ground in Venezuela. The infrastructure of Venezuela’s oil industry is in bad shape right now -thanks to decades of mismanagement, corruption, and under-investment. Oil spills are nearly an everyday occurrence. Caracas is unwilling to locate, contain, and clean up oil spills, which is exacerbating the damage it is doing to the environment.

The United States and Venezuela recently made a few goodwill gestures in a prelude to Biden cozying up for oil. Caracas exchanged American hostages as the U.S. released the so-called narcosobrinos, two nephews of Maduro’s wife, who were apprehended and convicted of drug trafficking on U.S. soil.

Which is the worse of the two? Importing oil from regimes such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran, or drilling more oil in the United States and becoming self-sufficient.

Perplexingly, President Biden would prefer the former to the latter. Desperate to keep oil prices in check with the midterms looming, Washington is exploring every option except a shift in domestic policy.

But here’s the catch: the oil we bought from Russia contributed to Putin’s coffers, which he used to fund a war with Ukraine. If the U.S. lifts sanctions on Iran, it will use billions of unfrozen dollars to fund Hamas and Hezbollah terror against Israel. Even if Maduro’s stated use of unfrozen funds is noble, imagine what a socialist dictator could do.

The Biden administration has suffocated domestic production, and energy independence is not its priority. The President and the Democrats prefer seeing the money go to these rogue regimes rather than Republican states like Texas, Oklahoma, or South Dakota.

Such narrow-mindedness hurts the country, its energy sector, and national security. With record rates of inflation, stagflation in the wings, exorbitant prices for food and fuel, and the world grappling with the fallout of a war that has no end in sight, this is no time to play petty politics.

America must learn from the dire experiences of countries that tried to shift from fossil fuels before implementing and establishing alternate sources to meet their energy demands.

Remember, President Biden, in his famous speech in Philadelphia, said, “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal.” Yes, Mr. President, we agree. We are living to see the United States swerve from energy independence to energy dependence under your leadership. We can’t fathom the wisdom of not drilling in the United States while begging dictators worldwide for oil and gas.

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