In a move that likely angered his environment-conscious base, the White House has issued a muted request for U.S. oil companies to increase crude oil production in the wake of high crude oil and gasoline prices.

Though words are different than deeds—and President Joe Biden's deeds have been decisively anti-fossil fuel expansion—a White House official told U.S. oil companies on Tuesday that they could increase production if they want.

"Prices are quite high, the price signal is strong. If folks want to produce more, they can and they should," White House National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti said in an interview today.

While the words fell short of an official request to U.S. oil companies to increase production, it is decidedly different from ignoring U.S. oil companies' production plans altogether while asking OPEC+ to do the heavy lifting when it comes to oil production—to no avail, no less.