US will release 50 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The United States will release 50 million barrels of crude from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help lower prices and address the lack of supply, the White House said.
The release was being made in coordination with other releases from strategic reserves by China, United Kingdom, India, South Korea, Japan and Britain.
It was the first time the United States has coordinated releases with some of the world’s largest oil consumers.
US President Biden announced releases of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices for Americans and address the mismatch between demand exiting the pandemic and supply.
Of the total, 32 million barrels will be an exchange over the next several months that will eventually return to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, while 18 million barrels will be an acceleration of a previously authorized sale by Congress.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the world’s largest emergency stockpile of crude in the world.
The unusual effort by the United States to team up with major Asian economies to lower energy prices sends a warning to OPEC and other big producers to address concerns about high crude prices.
Biden has repeatedly called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to pump more oil.
In US, fuel prices are about 50 per cent higher than they were last year amid rising inflation and surging oil prices.