The Biden administration is releasing oil from the oil reserve in an effort to address the rising gas prices as holidays approach, the White House said in a statement Tuesday.
The Department of Energy plans to make 50 million barrels of oil available to lower prices and address the need of consumer demand and supply.
The White House said the decision was made with other major energy consuming countries – including India, South Korea and Japan. The plan is to lower energy prices after oil-rich nations refused to answer calls to increase production as the economy continues to rebound from the pandemic.
On average today, gas prices in the U.S. are $3.42 a gallon, which is the highest since 2014.
One of the biggest concerns of Biden’s presidency has been inflation.
The release of oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve comes after his officials have asked the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries alliance to pump more oil.
Biden is only the fourth president to have directed the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. *Obama (2011), W. Bush (2005) and H.W. Bush (1991).