Politics

Biden Boasts About ‘Largest Ever Release’ From Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Oil tank (By Kaz Ish, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53854691)

President Joe Biden boasted during a Tuesday speech about ordering releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address inflated gas prices.

“Across the country, the common price at the pump is $2.99 a gallon. It’s much higher here. And the prices continue to go down. This isn’t accidental,” Biden said during a speech in Bay City, Michigan. “We’ve been on this for months. Remember, I got criticized in the face of Putin using energy as a weapon. It took some decisive action. I ordered the largest ever release from the petroleum reserve, 180 million barrels of oil. And I rallied our international partners to come up with their fair share as well. That helped put pressure, downward pressure on price, because we’re producing more gasoline that helps stabilize crude oil markets and reduce prices at the pump.”

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Biden authorized the sale of up to 180 million barrels of oil from the reserves in March, following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Biden and the White House have often called increased gas prices the “Putin price hike,” while also blaming oil companies for high energy prices, but some experts have said Biden’s hostility to fossil fuel production has fueled higher gas prices.

The Biden administration released 10 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in October, putting it at its lowest level since the 1980s, according to Forbes.

The average price of gas soared to as high as $5.016 a gallon on June 14, according to AAA, while the average price for a gallon of diesel remains above $5.