FirstFT: Biden authorises release of oil from US strategic stockpile

FirstFT: Biden authorises release of oil from US strategic stockpile

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President Joe Biden has announced the release of oil from the US’s strategic stockpile in an attempt to drive down petrol prices and snuff out a crude market rally that the White House has said poses a threat to the global economic recovery.

The White House yesterday said that the president was authorising the release of 50m barrels of oil — about 2.5 days worth of US oil consumption — “over the coming months”, in a move co-ordinated with China, India, Japan, South Korea and the UK.

But an effort to drive down oil prices that have doubled in the past year appeared to backfire, as international crude benchmark Brent rose more than 2 per cent on the news, to trade at about $81.40 a barrel on Tuesday morning in London.

Biden linked the release to efforts to beat back sharply rising inflation, saying Americans were “feeling the impact of elevated gas prices at the pump and in their home heating bills, and American businesses are, too, because oil supply has not