Biden Announces Release of 15 Million More Oil Barrels from Reserve
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The White House is set to announce the sale of 15 million more oil barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
Key Quotes: "This sale will complete the historic, 180-million-barrel drawdown the President announced in the spring, which has helped to stabilize crude oil markets and reduce prices at the pump," according to a White House fact sheet. Biden said Tuesday that "we need to responsibly increase American oil production without delay or deferring our transition to clean energy." An economist told Politico that there's "no switch you can turn that’s immediately going to cause a bunch more oil to come out of the ground." An energy market analyst wrote that "The Biden administration still doesn’t get the fact that the release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) failed to control oil prices."
For Context: After falling for months, gas prices are on the rise again, up roughly 5% from a month ago. OPEC+ recently decided to cut oil production by roughly 2 million barrels per day, which contributed to the price spike and prompted Biden to sell off more reserves. The SPR is at its lowest level since 1984, with around 400 million barrels remaining.
How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum framed the move as being unlikely to impact gas prices. Right-rated sources focused more on concerns about the SPR being low and voices who criticized Biden's handling of the situation.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Biden set to go to the mat with Big Oil over gas pricesThe White House is intensifying a pressure campaign against the oil industry over rebounding gas prices as it tries to contain the political fallout of rising fuel costs just ahead of the midterms.
Top Biden administration officials in recent weeks have publicly warned companies against inflating prices. In private, their message has been even more direct. They’ve aired complaints to executives over their ballooning profits and threatened drastic new restrictions — such as limits on companies’ fuel exports — if the industry refuses to help ease the price at the...
From the Center
Biden to lay out plan to complete emergency oil sales, support U.S. productionU.S. President Joe Biden will announce a plan on Wednesday to sell off the last portion of his release from the nation's emergency oil reserve by year's end, and detail a strategy to refill the stockpile when prices drop, a senior administration official said.
The plan is intended to add enough supply to prevent oil price spikes that could hurt consumers and businesses, while also assuring the nation's drillers the government will swoop into the market as a buyer if prices plunge too low.
Biden's efforts to use federal powers...
From the Right
White House Signals ‘Significant’ Drawdowns From Strategic Reserve Beyond 180 Million Oil BarrelsAllSides Picks
April 24th, 2024
April 24th, 2024