Biden dips into oil reserve in an attempt to soften gas prices

President Joe Biden announced that he will be releasing 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to curb the blow of rising gas prices following Russia’s attack against Ukraine and U.S.-imposed sanctions against Russia, according to Reuters.

Biden announces a plan to help lower fuel prices: “Mr. Biden plans to release one million barrels of oil a day for 180 days (6 months). That would represent roughly 5 percent of American demand and 1 percent of global demand,” reported The New York Times.

• “Americans are feeling Putin’s gas price hike at the pump. That’s why today, I’m authorizing the release of 1 million barrels a day from our Strategic Petroleum reserve — and taking steps to lay a new foundation for lasting American energy independence through clean energy,” tweeted Biden.

Will this help? Russia is responsible for about 14% of the world’s total oil supply, according to Reuters. While the release may lower gas prices, it is hard to tell if this will actually be a long term solution to the problem, according to NPR.

About the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: “The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a U.S. Government complex of four sites with deep underground storage caverns created in salt domes along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coasts,” according to the SPR website.

• The SPR is a “stockpile of crude oil that the U.S. maintains in case of an emergency,” per NPR.
• The SPR can hold 714 million barrels of oil, but currently holds “more than 500 million barrels of oil, less than one month’s worth of oil at current U.S. consumption levels,” according to NPR.