As Biden Opens Strategic Oil Reserves, 10 Things To Know

As Biden Opens Strategic Oil Reserves, 10 Things To Know

President Biden announced the United States would tap strategic oil reserves, the first such move ... [+] since 2011, when he was vice president, and only the fourth since their inception in 1975. While the United States is far less dependent on foreign energy than at any time in decades, President Biden authorized the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the nation's strategic reserves. It is the fourth such emergency release since the strategic reserves were created in 1975, shortly after the Arab Oil Embargo led to shortages and gas lines in the United States. The last one was in 2011, when Biden was President Barack Obama's vice president. The move carries a certain degree of symbolism, an effort to tap down inflation by putting pressure on OPEC nations to produce more oil, thus reducing the cost of gasoline at the pump. Not only is the United States producing more oil, it no longer gets nearly as much of its foreign oil from OPEC nations as it once did. That's far from the only change with regard to U. S. oil, gasoline and natural gas exports and imports. Looking at U. S. Census Bureau data through September, the