Biden set to order record release of US oil reserves

Biden set to order record release of US oil reserves

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden was expected Thursday to announce the release of a record million barrels of oil a day from US strategic stockpiles in a dramatic attempt to cushion the political fallout from soaring crude prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Multiple US media reports said Biden’s plan could see the US drawing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for as long as 180 days, dumping a significant amount of supply onto the overheated global oil market, which has sent inflationary shockwaves through the American economy.

Struggling with bad poll numbers and November’s looming midterm elections, when Republicans are forecast to take over Congress from the Democrats, the White House is scrambling to find a way to show Americans that Biden has a solution to a problem rooted in aftershocks from the COVID pandemic and President Vladimir Putin’s brutal war. A six month release of a million barrels daily would be by far the largest and most sustained ever tapping of the stockpiles in US history. The release would amount to augmenting global supplies by about one percent.

The White House press office declined to confirm the reports. However, Biden was scheduled to deliver a speech on “actions to reduce the