U.S President Joe Biden has announced plans to release an additional 15 million barrels of oil from the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The announcement was made a few weeks after the OPEC+ cartel’s major oil-producing members announced they would reduce their output in an effort to raise oil prices. With the addition of the 15 million barrels, 180 million barrels of oil have now been sold from the Strategic Reserve.
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The price of crude oil generally reflects whether gas prices rise or fall. While a barrel of crude oil sold for $120 in June, gas prices in the United States reached an all-time high of $5 per gallon. When crude oil fell below $80 per barrel earlier this fall, the national average for gasoline fell below $3.70 per gallon.
Federal statistics show that the United States produces more oil than any other country, at over 11 million barrels per day. Russia is the world’s second-largest oil producer, but western countries avoid doing business with it because of its invasion of Ukraine.
The Biden administration has largely blamed Russia for the increase in oil and gas prices.
The Strategic Reserve will be at its lowest level since the 1980s after the Biden administration’s most recent drawdown, with 400 million barrels remaining in it. The White House stated that it “intends to repurchase crude oil for the SPR when prices are at or below about $67-$72 per barrel” in an effort to replenish the reserve.
