President Biden said on Wednesday that he would release 10 million barrels of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve SPR in November in a move to counter rising gas prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC said yesterday it would reduce oil production by 2 million barrels a day.
The cuts are expected to restore the oil market for top producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia, but are also expected to drive up costs at the pump worldwide.
Biden s attempt to circumvent the spike in gas prices, which is expected to hit the market in time for the midterm elections, may not prove all that effective.
In March, Biden said he would release 1 million barrels of oil a day to counter record high gas prices, despite a global economic recession, inflation and disruption to the market caused by the war in Ukraine.
The release of 180 million barrels of oil from the U.S. petroleum reserves is expected to be completed on October 31.
The White House condemned the decision by the OPEC and said in a joint statement by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and NEC Director Brian Deese that Biden was disappointed by the shortsighted decision by theOPEC to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing with the negative impact of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The drop in oil supplies in the market will cause lower and middle-income nations around the world to be hit hardest, according to the pair.
The White House officials said that the President will continue to lead SPR releases as appropriate to protect American consumers and promote energy security. He is asking the Secretary of Energy to look at other responsible actions to increase domestic production in the immediate term. Biden has once again called on U.S. energy companies to bring pump prices down by closing the historically large gap between wholesale and retail gas prices.