President Biden warned oil companies not to 'gouge' gasoline prices on the back of Hurricane Ian

• President Biden warned oil companies against hiking prices as Hurricane Ian approached Florida.
• Georgia and the Carolinas will be affected by the storm, according to reports.

President Joe Biden warned oil companies not to ratchet prices as Hurricane Ian approached the southwest coast of Florida on Wednesday.

Biden discussed the hurricane at a White House conference Wednesday on hunger and nutrition and issued what he described as a "warning to oil and gas industry executives."

"Do not — let me repeat, do not — do not use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American people," said Biden.

"This small, temporary storm impact on oil production provides no excuse — no excuse — for price increases at the pump," Biden continued. "None. If companies try to use this storm to raise prices at the pump, I will ask officials to look into whether price gouging is going on."

The government's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which oversees oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, said that Hurricane Ian, which peaked as a Category 4 storm, had led to oil and gas companies reducing production by about 190,000 barrels a day, or about 2% of overall US daily output.

Reducing spiking oil prices has been one of Biden's key priorities in recent months, with inflation one of the main concerns for voters as the November 8 midterm elections approach. Republicans have been hammering the Biden administration on gas prices as they seek to make the election a referendum on the Biden administration and its economic policies.

Gas prices hit an unprecedented national average of $5 a gallon in June amid the war in Ukraine and surging demand for energy after the pandemic. But they they were in steady decline, before increasing again in the last week, the American Automobile Association said.

According to the Associated Press, gas prices in Florida had not spiked significantly as the hurricane approached, with the average in the state at just under $3.40 a gallon, six-tenths of a cent higher than a week ago.

Hurricane Ian made landfall on Wednesday afternoon and has left millions of homes without power as it barrels through the state.