Biden to Release a Record 1 Million Barrels Per Day from Strategic Petroleum Reserve

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Thursday will announce the release of 1 million barrels of oil a day for the next six months from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try to bring down gasoline prices, the White House said.

Biden’s aim is to try to bring down gasoline prices that have soared in recent months particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Biden is to make the announcement at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) event at the White House.

“After consultation with allies and partners, the president will announce the largest release of oil reserves in history, putting one million additional barrels on the market per day on average – every day – for the next six months,” the White House said.

In addition, the Defense Production Act will be authorized to support the production and processing of minerals and materials used for large capacity batteries – such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese, the White House said.

The scale of the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was described by the White House as unprecedented.

“The world has never had a release of oil reserves at this 1 million per day rate for this length of time. This record release will provide a historic amount of supply to serve as bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up,” it said.

The Department of Energy will use the revenue from the release to restock the SPR in future years, the White House said.

(Reporting By Steve HollandEditing by Marguerita Choy)

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