Biden’s SPR Release Shows Another Failure Of Interventionist Energy Policy

Biden’s SPR Release Shows Another Failure Of Interventionist Energy Policy

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 23: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on the economy during an event at the ... [+] South Court Auditorium at Eisenhower Executive Office Building on November 23, 2021 in Washington, DC. President Biden announced the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve of the Department of Energy to combat high energy prices which are at a seven-year high across the nation prior to the holiday travel season. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

On November 23, 2021, as the price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude hit $78.50 per barrel, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an order to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to release 50 million barrels of oil from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Concerned about his declining public approval ratings and the impact that high gasoline prices were having on them, Biden and his advisors felt a political need to “do something” to address the situation, always the most dangerous motivation for any political regime.