Biden predicts gas prices won't go down until 2022

President said he doesn't have 'near-term answer'

President Biden said during a CNN town hall Thursday night that he doesn’t envision gas prices will go down until 2022.

"I don’t see anything that’s going to significantly reduce gas prices right now," Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. "My guess is you’ll start to see gas prices come down as we get by going into the winter, I mean excuse me, into next year in 2022.

Biden said what will happen with gas prices depends on Saudi Arabia and a few other things "in the offing," but Biden also said he was resisting talking to Middle Eastern leaders about it.

A gas pump is seen in a car at a Shell gas station in Washington, D.C., back in May. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo)

'YOUR WORLD' ON RISING GAS PRICES

"I don’t have a near-term answer," Biden added. "It’s going to be hard."

Critics have blamed Biden administration policies for playing a role in the spiking gas prices. "The Biden administration declared war on fossil fuels. They have made clear that they intend to put the fossil fuel industry out of business," Fox News contributor Mark Thiessen told "The Faulkner Focus" this week. "When you tell a business you’re going to put them out of business, they’re not gonna drill new wells, and Wall Street’s not gonna invest in the fossil fuels industry, so they’re exacerbating that."

President Biden participating in the town hall Thursday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden said lowering gas prices depends on Saudi Arabia and a "few other things that are in the offing."

Gas prices have jumped across the nation as oil prices reach a 7-year high, leaving only two states with prices under $3 per gallon. 

Oklahoma and Texas are the only two states in the nation where the average price of gas still sits below $3 per gallon, according to GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan. 

Prices in Texas and Oklahoma are averaging at $2.99 and $2.97 per gallon, respectively. However, prices in those states will likely rise "in the next few days," De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, tweeted. 

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"By the weekend, we'll see no states with an average of under $3/gal, it'll be the first time in over 2,500 days since that last occurred," De Haan said in a subsequent tweet. 

Earlier this week, De Haan told FOX Business that the rising gas prices are continuing "to eat away at consumers' buying power." 

President Biden speaking at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, Pa., on Oct. 20. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Since then the national average has risen to $3.35 per gallon, according to De Haan and relief won't be in the near future. 

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"I don't believe we'll see much relief by Thanksgiving as the energy issues that have caused the rising prices don't look like they'll be quickly solved," De Haan said, citing the natural gas shortages in Europe and China's struggle with finding coal to burn for electricity.

FOX Business' Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.