Biden orders release of 50 million barrels of oil from nation's reserves

The Biden Administration is set to release 50 million barrels of oil from the country’s emergency stockpile in an attempt to mitigate rising gas prices and rising inflation, the White House announced Tuesday.

Of the 50 million barrels, 32 million – released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – are scheduled to be replaced in the following years. An additional 18 million barrels will be replaced in the coming months, The Hill reported.

China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom will also tap into their own strategic reserves, signaling that shortages have affected the wider global economy.

Inflation in the U.S. hit a 31-year high last month, placing additional pressure on the Biden Administration to act.

According to Labor Department data, rising prices were catalyzed by a 4.8 percent increase in energy costs for the month. Gasoline prices rose by 1.6 percent.

"American consumers are 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 kept up with demand as the global economy emerges from the pandemic," the White House said in a statement. "That’s why President Biden is using every tool available to him to work to lower prices and address the lack of supply."

But as the Administration scrambles to reassure Americans that it is taking action to combat soaring fuel prices, a recent report from market intelligence firm Kpler shows that 1.6 million barrels of crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was sent to Asia in October, Bloomberg reported.

“Given the ongoing pace of the current SPR release — 12 million barrels in the last two months and the biggest weekly release so far last week at 3.1 million barrels — it’s fair to assume more SPR barrels are going to leave U.S. shores in the weeks ahead,” said Matt Smith, an oil analyst at Kpler.

But that isn’t the first time Biden has taken actions that reduces U.S. energy independence.

Upon entering office, the president closed the Keystone XL pipeline, thus forcing Canadian oil to enter the U.S. over land and ultimately pushing the added cost onto consumers.

Similarly, Biden halted new oil, gas and coal leases on federal lands. This move has so far discouraged new drilling and disincentivized the energy industry from providing affordable energy to consumers.

Gasoline is up 2.8 cents from last month and $1.30 per gallon higher than last year. The national average price of diesel has risen $0.1 cent in the past week and stands at $3.63 per gallon, USA Today reports.

In an attempt to provide relief to American consumers, the Biden Administration called on Saudi Arabia and the UAE to increase production levels – thus far, both countries have denied the request for assistance.