As gas prices climbed back up to a national average of $4 a gallon on July 20 and the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve dropped to its lowest levels in more than four decades, guests and network personalities on Fox News and Fox Business deflected from President Donald Trump’s role in driving up energy costs by pointing to former President Joe Biden’s use of the SPR while downplaying the price at the pump caused by Trump’s conflict in Iran.

On The Faulkner Focus, correspondent Edward Lawrence said that the rising gas prices have made “Democrats more vocal at trying to place blame on this president. … But the fact is the reason the U.S. cannot release more out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is that it is at a 43-year low right now — the Biden administration drained it of 180 million barrels before mid-term elections in 2022 and never fully refilled it.”

Lawrence’s characterization is misleading at best. Biden’s 180-million-barrel drawdown started in March 2022 in response to the global oil disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and was scheduled for a six-month period — is almost identical to the amount and scheduled releases of oil by the Trump administration, except that Trump’s release was made to offset the supply disruption from a conflict he initiated. Releasing oil from the reserve is a temporary tool that doesn’t meaningfully impact gas prices, as Fox repeatedly pointed out under Biden, and again in the lead-up to Trump releasing oil from the SPR earlier this year. In March, anchor Dana Perino said, “I don’t know if the SPR would even make a difference right now anyway,” Fox Business host Stuart Varney said, “I don't think that that does much good,” and Charles Payne on Fox & Friends said that the problem with tapping the SPR is that it's “temporary relief.” 

 Now, Fox figures and guests are scapegoating the Biden administration for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve reaching record lows on Trump’s watch. 

On America Reports, guest and CEO Mark Tepper suggested that the justification for Biden’s release was different than Trump’s: “You’re really only supposed to deplete that if we are in an emergency. He [Biden] was trying to fight inflation rather than solve an emergency and he depleted it from 620 to down to maybe 340 million barrels. So President Trump inherited an already depleted emergency fund, right? And now that we actually do have an emergency — we have war — there's not a lot left.”

On The Bottom Line, after Fox host David Asman referenced “the Trump administration’s plan” to release oil from the SPR “to address the rising costs tied to Iran,” co-host Jackie DeAngelis said, “But you know who didn't plan a restock? Joe Biden. He ordered the largest depletion of the reserve in history right before the 2022 midterms, and here we are.” Later in the program, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argued that “Biden drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ahead of the midterms when it wasn’t even an international crisis,” while “President Trump is using the SPR as intended.” 

Lawrence also repeatedly suggested that poor maintenance of strategic storage sites under Biden is now hurting our ability to restore the reserve, even though the Trump administration has not started to replace any of the oil it has used so far. On America’s Newsroom, he claimed: “The Energy Department expects to put barrels back starting at the end of the year. Now, the United States has four strategic storage sites. In a Fox Business exclusive, one of them cannot be used according to the energy undersecretary that manages the site. The undersecretary tells me the Biden administration bought equipment and just let it sit — that equipment sat for so long it became no longer viable, blocking the site.” Lawrence repeated the narrative blaming the Biden administration on The Faulkner Focus and The Claman Countdown.  

Meanwhile some figures on Fox downplayed the return to $4 gas prices by suggesting the increase was minor or would be worse under Biden. 

On Fox & Friends First, Fox Business’ Cheryl Casone claimed that the “economy is good, we have gotten really good news on inflation, which is good because I believe 95% of Americans say affordability is a problem right now. So this is good. Now, gas prices are going up. … Here’s the national average for today, $4 compared to $3.87 last week, so gas [is] going in the wrong direction right now.”

“Overall, the economy is in good shape,” Casone concluded.

On America Reports, anchor Sandra Smith downplayed rising gas prices, saying, “We should note that many of you as analysts have pointed out that, historically speaking, if we had seen a situation like we are right now, there would be a much bigger shock in the markets. Still, with the escalating tensions in this moment, we’re just back to $4 and just above $80 a barrel.” 

On The Faulkner Focus, Lawrence claimed: “This is not a huge spike in oil prices. It is a move up because of the moves that this administration has made to increase global supply.”

Discussing “the price of gas at the pump” with Trump’s interior secretary, Asman said, “It is still way below the $5-plus that it was under the Biden administration, where it went up to — today's dollars — up to $5.60, but it is moving in the wrong direction.”

 DeAngelis later repeated the narrative that the increase in fuel costs is only temporary, even as prices have been elevated for more than five months and she previously referred to $4 gas as her “uh-oh” number. 

“We saw how quickly prices dropped recently — once this conflict is over, that will happen again." DeAngelis said. “The U.S. is still pumping at levels that are at record levels, as a matter of fact. So, the way I see this: this is a conflict that needs to be fought. The oil price shock is going to be still temporary.” 

“Having said that,” she added, “we still do not have a great idea of what ‘temporary’ means to the president.”