“After consulting with allies and partners, the president will announce the largest release of oil reserves in history, with one million extra barrels on the market a day on average – every day – for the next six months,” the White House said. . . “The scale of this release is unprecedented: The world has never had a stockpile of oil at this rate of 1 million per day for this period. This record release will offer a historic amount of commission to serve as a bridge to its end. the year that domestic production increases “. The release will amount to 180 million barrels of oil. Biden earlier this month announced a coordinated release of oil from stocks in cooperation with other nations. It also released about 60 million barrels in November, which it said was the largest stock release in US history.
No move had a significant effect on gas prices, which continued to rise as global limits on Russian energy exports pushed up prices. The United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil per day, with global consumption hovering around 100 million barrels. Biden’s scheduled releases would give more oil to the world market, possibly reducing costs. The president also called on Congress to “force companies to pay fees for wells from their leases that they have not used for years and for acres of public land that they hoard without producing.” For months, the Biden government has publicly rejected the idea that regulations prevent oil producers from producing more domestically, indicating that millions of acres of land are licensed for oil and gas production. “Companies that produce from their leased acres and existing wells will not face higher wages,” says a White House newsletter, “but companies that continue to sit on non-producing acres will have to choose they will start producing or pay a fee for every idle and unused acre ”. Biden will also issue a directive to invoke defense production law to boost domestic production of critical minerals needed to build electric vehicle batteries and long-term energy storage. The White House move adds critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt and manganese to the list of items covered by the 1950 Defense Production Production Act, a Korean War law that allows the president to use power. to place large orders for a particular type of product or to expand capacity and supply. It will allow management to support the production and processing of these critical minerals needed for a clean energy transition. The Department of Defense will exercise this power, according to the White House, and will do so in consultation with tribal communities and using strong environmental, labor and community standards.

Biden faces a major political problem

Exploitation – the 600 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground salt caves in Louisiana and Texas – generally has a limited effect on gas prices because of the amount of oil that can be released at a time but would work. as a political sign that Biden continues to face the problem. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price of regular gasoline in the US skyrocketed, reaching a record high of $ 4.33 a gallon earlier in March. However, the current cost increases started months ago, as demand for oil increased as the coronavirus pandemic weakened. The White House has expressed frustration that oil companies did not return production to pre-pandemic levels, focusing instead on paying dividends to investors. There has been an internal debate among management officials about how hard oil and gas companies must be pursued in order not to increase production. Biden has criticized them in previous statements, but some officials believe a full-scale campaign against the companies could fail. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine gave Biden another piece of foil. In a statement earlier this month, Biden called on the Russian president to bear the brunt of rising prices: “Make no mistake: the current rise in gas prices is largely Vladimir Putin’s responsibility.” He has since repeated the phrase “Putin’s price increase.” Governments across the United States are trying to curb gas prices at the state level. Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a $ 9 billion proposal to distribute $ 400 debit cards to drivers in the state to mitigate the impact of the country’s higher gas prices. In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp – facing one of the toughest re-election campaigns in the country – signed a bill that would give $ 250- $ 500 in tax refunds to Georgians – a move that several of his opponents toppled. politicization of the election period. And as Democratic Gov. Janet Mills faces a competitive re-election campaign in Maine, she has proposed some of the most generous tax breaks in her state – in the form of $ 850 checks – to mitigate the blow to inflation and prices. natural gas. This story has been updated with basic information.