Why are oil prices so high? And what can be done about it?

President Joe Biden faced an awkward moment during the international climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, when he was asked at a press conference about inflation back home, including gasoline prices.

“If you take a look at gas prices and you take a look at oil prices, that is a consequence of, thus far, the refusal of Russia or the OPEC nations to pump more oil,” Biden said Nov. 2 at the United Nations’ COP26 summit. “And we’ll see what happens on that score sooner than later.”

OPEC is the group of 13 primarily Middle Eastern and African oil exporters that act collectively to set production levels; it has been joined recently in decision-making by Russia and some other non-member nations.