We have an economy that has shown signs of slowing. With energy prices at extremely high levels -- and now moving above those levels -- this is kind of a double whammy.
There's a combination of strong economic statistics, an increase in geopolitical concerns regarding a variety of oil-producing countries and bad refining news, and the market has been very spooked, ... It's a long laundry list of problems.
The government is trying to collect overdue taxes from oil companies to recover some lost taxes. And there is still some confusion about the government being in crisis.
In the short term, the main market problem at the refining level is the shortage of product, not inputs. It's mostly a problem of product (gasoline), not crude oil.
There is no short term supply pressure in the market.
If it is rhetoric, it is to balance the perception that that they are responsible for the high prices.
If it actually produced as much as it could, obviously, it would add tremendously to oil supplies, and it would push the price down.
If it's not rhetoric it's an effort to recapture the share of the oil cut that they gave away to deep conversion refiners.
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