Texas Sen. John Cornyn said he fears the dropping oil prices will either destroy or "permanently damage" a vital part of the economy in his state and across the nation, and slammed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for posting and then deleting a tweet celebrating news that crude oil prices had dropped far below $0 a barrel Monday.
“The Saudis and the Russians crushed oil prices around the world by flooding the markets,” the Texas Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
Thanks to "good work done by the administration," the world's biggest oil producers ended a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, but that still may not be enough to avert a crisis, said Cornyn.
"The problem is, because of the coronavirus economic collapse, there's not as much demand so there's an oversupply of roughly 25 million barrels a day and that's why you’re seeing all this pressure on oil prices,” said Cornyn.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for delivery in May plummeted to a record low of minus $36.73 a barrel, meaning buyers will be paid to take delivery because of transportation and storage costs.
Meanwhile, Cornyn took offense to Ocasio-Cortez's now-deleted tweet, where she responded "you absolutely love to see it. This along with record-low interest rates means it's the right time for a worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure to save our planet."
“This is not a time for partisan or political posturing,” Cornyn said. "Obviously she does not know what she's talking about in terms of the energy sector ... now is really not the time to try to advance your narrow ideological agenda."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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