WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve Wednesday as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations, and he will say more oil sales are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
Biden will deliver remarks Wednesday to announce the drawdown from the strategic reserve, senior administration officials said Tuesday on the condition of anonymity to outline Biden’s plans. It completes the release of 180 million barrels authorized by Biden in March that was initially supposed to occur over six months. That has sent the strategic reserve to its lowest level since 1984 in what the administration called a “bridge” until domestic production could be increased. The reserve now contains roughly 400 million barrels of oil.
Biden will also open the door to additional releases this winter in an effort to keep prices down. But administration officials would not detail how much the president would be willing to tap, nor how much they want domestic and production to increase by in order to end the drawdown.
Biden will also say that the U.S. government will restock the strategic reserve when oil prices are at or lower than $67 to $72 a barrel, an offer that administration officials argue will increase domestic production by guaranteeing a baseline level of demand. Yet the president is also expected to renew his criticism of the profits reaped by oil companies — repeating a bet made this summer that public condemnation would matter more to these companies than shareholders’ focus on returns.
It marks the continuation of an about-face by Biden, who has tried to move the U.S. past fossil fuels to identify additional sources of energy to satisfy U.S. and global supply as a result of disruptions from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and production cuts announced by the Saudi Arabia-led oil cartel.
The prospective loss of 2 million barrels a day — 2% of global supply — has had the White House saying Saudi Arabia sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin and pledging there will be consequences for supply cuts that could prop up energy prices. The 15 million-barrel release would not cover even one full day's use of oil in the U.S., according to the Energy Information Administration.
The administration could make a decision on future releases a month from now, as it requires a month and a half for the government to notify would-be buyers.
Biden still faces political headwinds because of gas prices. AAA reports that gas is averaging $3.87 a gallon. That's down slightly over the past week, but it's up from a month ago. The recent increase at prices stalled the momentum that the president and his fellow Democrats had been seeing in the polls ahead of the November elections.
An analysis Monday by ClearView Energy Partners, an independent energy research firm based in Washington, suggested that two states that could decide control of the evenly split Senate — Nevada and Pennsylvania — are sensitive to energy prices. The analysis noted that gas prices over the past month rose above the national average in 18 states, which are home to 29 potentially “at risk” House seats.
Even if voters want cheaper gasoline, expected gains in supply are not materializing because of a weaker global economy. The U.S. government last week revised downward its forecasts, saying that domestic firms would produce 270,000 fewer barrels a day in 2023 than was forecast in September. Global production would be 600,000 barrels a day lower than forecast in September.
The hard math for Biden is that oil production has yet to return to its pre-pandemic level of roughly 13 million barrels a day. It's about a million barrels a day shy of that level. The oil industry would like the administration to open up more federal lands for drilling, approve pipeline construction and reverse its recent changes to raise corporate taxes. The administration counters that the oil industry is sitting on thousands of unused federal leases and says new permits would take years to produce oil with no impact on current gas prices. Environmental groups, meanwhile, have asked Biden to keep a campaign promise to block new drilling on federal lands.
Biden has resisted the policies favored by U.S. oil producers. Instead, he's sought to reduce prices by releasing oil from the U.S. reserve, shaming oil companies for their profits and calling on greater production from countries in OPEC+ that have different geopolitical interests, said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute.
“If they continue to offer the same old so-called solutions, they’ll continue to get the same old results,” Macchiarola said.
Because fossil fuels lead to carbon emissions, Biden has sought to move away from them entirely with a commitment to zero emissions by 2050. When discussing that commitment nearly a year ago after the G-20 leading rich and developing nations met in Rome, the president said he still wanted to also lower gas prices because at “$3.35 a gallon, it has profound impact on working-class families just to get back and forth to work."
Since Biden spoke of the pain of gas at $3.35 a gallon and his hopes to reduce costs, the price has on balance risen another 15.5%.
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President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve
Sure, seems like this was ALL Planned to delete the U.S. STRATEGIC RESERVES of oil. Just another step for them to destroy the historical way of America’s way of life.
AND make it easier for China or someone else to try and come in and take us over.
Note that the last time this corrupt, puppet president released millions of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve, Biden sold millions of barrels to China.
Biden will say more oil sales are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
“his administration rushes to be seen” …… The hate, cons, lies, hypocrisy and treachery of the treasonous, socialist Democrat Party know no bounds.
Don’t become one of the Democrat Party’s Useful Idiots”.
Wonder what Joey Boy would have done had he not had these reserves to draw upon. For all of his beratement of Trump, Donaldo Magnus built up those reserves—but for a more noble purpose which The Malarkey King doesn’t seem to understand.
For all of his Build Back Better hype—Biden is strategically crippling America.
CAN You imagine if TRUMP Was the one who offered to ‘RELEASE OUR strategic reserves, to lower prices”/…
THE DEMS WOULD BE screaming their heads off.
don’t forget every time he takes oil out he has to sell some also.
the u.s. economy can not survive this mans term.
Since January of 2021 nothing has been built let alone better and that which was built and found to be GOOD has either been torn down or abandoned to the incompetent liberal wokers who only know how to destroy but not create!
“America now has more untapped oil than any other country on the planet. That’s according to a new report from Rystad Energy that estimates the U.S. is sitting on an incredible 264 billion barrels of oil reserves. It includes oil in existing fields, new projects, recent discoveries as well as projections in undiscovered fields.”
“January 20, 2021: One of Biden’s first actions was to revoke approval for the Keystone XL pipeline and impose a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.”
“a drilling surge under former President Donald Trump.”
So Slo Joe (actually his puppet masters) terminated the import of oil via the Keystone pipeline from Canada by an Executive Order (day one of “presidency”). So we have less oil. Then Slo Joe pauses new oil and gas leases and permits to drill on federal lands and waters. Both obviously reduce oil production in the US. So Slo Joe begs Saudi Arabia to help by exporting more oil to the US. They give Slo Joe the middle finger – go blow Slo Joe. The answer – take oil from the Strategic Reserve which was obtained (of course) by oil for drilling. How duplicitous, sophomoric is that? On a second note, 15M barrels is less by 33% of the total oil consumed in the US the on a DAILY basis. Does Slo Joe and his know anything? What a colossal piece of shoot.
Someone forgot to tell biden that when newsom had the people shut power off to conserve “electricity”, biden thought he could buy it from newsom thus giving him millions of dollars and newsom would send the saved electricity so biden can replace the oil reserves with that electricity from newsom. Probably thinks save space too cause a barrel of oil is bulky and electrcity is just a spark that stays hidden once it strikes once.
Unfortunately, not everything taken out stays in the US. Much of it has to go up for sale on the global market. China bought a lot of the first withdrawals. Even if it all stayed here, it wouldn’t even cover one day of domestic usage
THEY DON’T care.. TO them, this is just another way to try and ‘buy’ votes.
Someone certainly wants to make the United States as vulnerable as possible to our enemies. Who in the bowels of DC has harbored that kind of hatred for this nation? All of us on the side of justice need to find them–and remove them quickly from power while we are still an intact nation.
VOTE!
Have we ever been this close to losing this country ? Certainly not in my lifetime.
So President Peabrain depletes our reserves and then leads us into a world war with no gasoline. Is it possible for people to BE this stupid? All dems care about is retaining power–THEIR power over the people. They’ll look better if the gas prices aren’t quite as high during the mid-terms. If the country goes to haell in a handbasket, that’s perfectly fine–so long as the election outcomes serve their purpose. W.O.R.S.T. P.R.E.S.I.D.E.N.T. E.V.E.R.
This Treasonous, dishonest, destructive, Socialist Democrat Party’s objective is to deliberately lie, cheat. and steal. To disregard the U.S. Constitution and laws, in order to take total control of the American people and their illegal immigrants by their restricting U.S. citizens their constitutional rights, stopping oil production, increase Taxes and the inflation cost of everything and bring American commerce and economy to its knees and to promote Socialism, enforced by their political DOJ and police gestapo the FBI and IRS.
Then access power and retain it by any means available –
No matter the costs to the people, the government or the nation.
This treasonous, hateful, destructive, immoral, socialist Democrat Party and their corrupt, demented puppet president has become our country’s most destructive and deadliest ENEMY!
Make sure votes are correctly counted. Do not want 81 millions votes showing up on a city of 8100 with mule tracks all over the rural roads going toward town. Beware of ghosts lights at the polling booth after closing time. but remember there are now night lights hard to see.
And then what will he do after reserves are depleted. Will he beg a communist country for oil to help or will he tell Americans tough ****.
The latter.
So, if Joe releases 15,000,000 barrels….
And the US consumes 19,687,287 barrels per day……..
that is 18 hours of consumption. Or did I miss something here……
Oh wait it offsets the imports to fill our consumption. That is 7,800,000 per day.
Whew, that is almost two days of relief…. Thanks joe, I feel so much better now. (as we are listed #1 global oil producer.