Gov. DeSantis says domestic oil production was ‘neutered intentionally’

Was the gas tax holiday pitched as an October surprise?

After a reprieve driven by cooperation with the White House in the wake of Hurricane Ian, Gov. Ron DeSantis is beginning to sharpen his critiques of American energy policy again.

During a Tuesday press conference in Fort Myers, DeSantis described domestic oil capacity as having been “neutered intentionally,” his sharpest condemnation of President Joe Biden’s approach since Hurricane Ian struck Southwest Florida last month.

DeSantis is warning that gas prices “could go up substantially given all the dynamics that we’re seeing, particularly with OPEC+ cutting production, and of course our own production has been neutered intentionally, which is not I think a very good decision.”

“The price of gas is going through the roof in a whole bunch of places,” DeSantis contended, decrying “pain at the pump” as inevitable given pressures in the oil market.

DeSantis again on Tuesday touted the state’s one-month gas tax holiday saving drivers 25.3 cents a gallon, saying Tuesday that Florida has “the fourth lowest gas prices in the United States.”

He has been compelled all month to balance celebrating the gas tax holiday with warnings about energy costs.

“I actually saw it at $2.99,” DeSantis said last week in Nokomis. “I have not seen it under three dollars in a long time. Certainly, I don’t think, since Jan. 20 a year and a half ago.”

Despite the gas tax relief, Florida is still feeling the brunt of increased costs.

Florida gas prices jumped 16 cents last week, from a 2022 low of $3.17 per gallon on Wednesday. It’s the largest weekly increase since June, according to AAA — The Auto Club Group.

Before Hurricane Ian was a concern, DeSantis often unleashed brutal critiques of Biden energy policy.

“So, the question is about gas prices and inflation, you know what I could do, if you could give me a time machine to go back to January 2021, we would just do the opposite of what Biden has done, and we’d be in a better spot,” said DeSantis in June.

DeSantis said Biden imposed “really negative policies to try to kneecap American energy production. And of course, that’s been a huge driver as to why we now have gas higher than we have ever seen it before in my lifetime in this country.”

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Florida Politics staff contributed to this report.