A call between senior Biden administration aides and reporters nicely captured a politically delicate White House stance on record U.S. oil and gas production and exports.

Why it matters: Felix Unger, meet Oscar Madison. The world's largest economy is also a powerhouse in global energy markets.

Yet that fact doesn't sit well with the environmental lobby, a vocal constituency President Biden needs as he heads into a tough reelection fight next year.

A group representing a coalition of environmental groups combed through the public list of people granted access to the United Nations COP28 climate talks and found at least 2,456 people the group considers fossil fuel lobbyists.

The Kick Big Polluters Out coalition said that means that COP28, underway in Dubai, has the greatest number of participants affiliated with fossil fuel interests known to attend one of the annual U.N. climate negotiations.

American oil fields are gushing again, helping to drive down fuel prices but also threatening to undercut efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Only three years after U.S. oil production collapsed during the pandemic, energy companies are cranking out a record 13.2 million barrels a day, more than Russia or Saudi Arabia. The flow of oil has grown by roughly 800,000 barrels a day since early 2022, and analysts expect the industry to add another 500,000 barrels a day next year.

U.S. drivers don’t need to be too concerned about the first-quarter oil output cuts announced by major producers this week, but an extension of the reductions beyond March would be cause for worry when it comes to gasoline prices at the pump.

On Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, together known as OPEC+, announced that several of its members agreed to make voluntary reductions to their crude production in the first three months of 2024.

The average price of gas dipped to $3.24, only a 2-cent drop from the week prior, according to the latest report from AAA. Pump prices on average are 26 cents less than a month ago and 26 cents less than a year ago. 

The decrease in gas prices may lose momentum following a recent uptick in oil prices. Reduced demand for gas has helped keep pump price increases in check, AAA said.  

OPEC+ agreed to a significant production cut of an additional million barrels a day, delegates said, in a move that will likely keep prices elevated amid the continuing conflict in the Middle East.

As part of the deal reached Thursday, Saudi Arabia also agreed to extend its cut of 1 million barrels a day that it announced in June.

Taken together, the moves are expected to stabilize prices at a moment when geopolitical tensions are high around the world and economic growth is slowing.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Monday said the oil and gas industry is being unjustly vilified ahead of a pivotal United Nations conference on the climate crisis later this week.

OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais pushed back against accusations that the industry is not doing enough to reduce carbon emissions.

The industry was taken to task last week for its role in the climate crisis and its commitment to clean energy by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).

The Biden administration on Friday unveiled a long-awaited drilling plan that would drastically shrink the nation’s offshore oil and gas leasing program to a maximum of three lease sales over the next five years — the smallest number ever to be offered in the program’s history.

The Biden administration's plan to slash offshore oil and gas leasing drew fire from both the fossil fuel industry and environmentalists on Friday, with energy companies saying it will raise fuel prices and greens saying it undermines efforts to stop global warming.