Joe Biden on Tuesday hit out at Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth, calling him “sensitive” after he criticised the US administration’s energy policy, as high fuel prices deepen tensions between the White House and the domestic oil industry.

The exchange came ahead of a meeting scheduled on Thursday between energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and senior industry executives including Wirth, whose company is the second-largest US oil and gas producer by market value.

The US president’s rhetoric on oil companies has heated up in recent weeks. Earlier this month he criticised ExxonMobil for “making more than God this year” and told the oil supermajor to “start investing more”. Last week he criticised the industry’s elevated profits as “unacceptable” during “a time of war”, as combat rages in Ukraine.