Biden administration announces largest-ever oil reserve release 

The Biden administration announced on March 31st, the largest-ever release of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

According to an official fact sheet, the White House will release 1 million barrels/day from the SPR over a 6-month period, for a total release of about 180 million barrels, dwarfing previous emergency releases.

The White House fact sheet said that Biden would call on Congress to approve legislation that would “make companies pay fees on wells from their leases that they haven’t used in years and on acres of public lands that they are hoarding without producing.” The senior administration official described it as a “use it or lose it” policy.

Commenting on the plan on Thursday, President Biden called on the oil industry to produce more, while also criticizing industry profits. “Enough of lavishing excessive profits on investors and payouts and buybacks when the American people are watching, the world is watching,” Biden said.

“This is not the time to sit on record profits. It’s time to step up for the good of your country, the good of the world, to invest in immediate production that we need to respond to Vladimir Putin, to provide some relief for your customers, not investors and executives,” he added.

The move comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine causes oil, and thus gasoline, prices to skyrocket. Oil supply had not rebounded to meet demand following coronavirus lockdowns, keeping prices elevated.

“These barrels will be a wartime bridge to additional U.S. production and other production that we expect later this year,” a senior administration official told reporters, noting that the plan was coordinated with U.S. allies.

The official said that the new, joint efforts would supply “well over” 1 million barrels each day to the market. Officials did not offer specific estimates for how much the strategic reserve release would impact gas prices or when Americans could expect to see prices come down.