President Joe Biden on Thursday will launch the largest release ever from the US emergency oil reserve to try to bring down gasoline prices that have soared during Russia’s war with Ukraine, the White House said.

Starting in May, the United States will release 1 million barrels per day of crude oil for six months from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a senior administration official told reporters.
The 180 million barrels is equivalent to about two days of global demand, and marks the third time Washington has tapped the SPR in the past six months.

The release will more than cover oil exports to the United States from Russia, which typically produces about 10 per cent of the world's crude, but only accounts for 8 per cent of US liquid fuel imports.

Biden banned US imports of Russian oil this month.

But the release will fall short of a loss of about 3 million bpd of Russian oil which the International Energy Agency estimates will be caused by Western sanctions and as global buyers avoid the oil.

Biden will also call on Congress to make energy companies pay fees on wells from leases they have not used in years, for US oil companies to drill more, and for boosts in production of electric vehicles and batteries.

The oil release will “serve as bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up”, the White House said.

The 31-member IEA, the world’s energy watchdog, may announce a release when the member states meet on Friday. The group presided over the fourth co-ordinated oil release in its history on March 1 of over 60 million barrels of crude its largest yet. Reuters