Washington: The Biden Administration said it is buying 3 million barrels of oil to start replenishing US strategic stockpile Authorities pulled out water earlier this year to keep gasoline prices from rising amid production cuts by the U.S. OPEC and restrictions Russian oil import,
President Joe Biden withdrew 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve starting in March, bringing the stockpile to its lowest level since the 1980s. Officials said procurement that began in January would start filling the reserve and additional purchases are likely to follow.
The Department of Energy called the purchase “a good deal for American taxpayers” because the price would be lower than US oil selling averages of $96 a barrel, the department said in a statement. Replenishment would also strengthen US energy security. The purchase price was not announced, but benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was selling for $74.50 a barrel late Friday.
Tapping reserves is one of the few things a president himself can do to try to control the inflation that impoverishes Americans and often creates a political liability for the party in control of the White House.
global oil prices were rising even before Russia invaded Ukraine last February. When Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports in early March, he acknowledged it would come at a cost to American consumers.
President Joe Biden withdrew 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve starting in March, bringing the stockpile to its lowest level since the 1980s. Officials said procurement that began in January would start filling the reserve and additional purchases are likely to follow.
The Department of Energy called the purchase “a good deal for American taxpayers” because the price would be lower than US oil selling averages of $96 a barrel, the department said in a statement. Replenishment would also strengthen US energy security. The purchase price was not announced, but benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was selling for $74.50 a barrel late Friday.
Tapping reserves is one of the few things a president himself can do to try to control the inflation that impoverishes Americans and often creates a political liability for the party in control of the White House.
global oil prices were rising even before Russia invaded Ukraine last February. When Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports in early March, he acknowledged it would come at a cost to American consumers.