Biden announces release of 1M barrels of oil per day from National Petroleum Reserve as Americans feel pain at the pump

March 31, 2022 Amber Coakley US 0

President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks with members of the press after speaking about his administration’s plans to combat rising gas prices in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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UPDATED 1:11 PM PT – Thursday, March 31, 2022

As gas prices continue to hurt Americans, President Joe Biden announced he has a plan to control the costs. During remarks at the White House Thursday, he blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the price hikes as Russian oil comes off the global market.

President Biden: “Today I’m authorizing the release of 1 million barrels per day for the next six months, over 180 million barrels, from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This is a wartime bridge to increase oil supply until production ramps up later this year.” pic.twitter.com/RFpk4tN3n7

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 31, 2022

Biden claimed he has a two part plan to fix the energy crisis. First, he said he will tackle the oil supply and called on oil companies to boost production He plans to impose a “use it or lose it” plan under which companies who don’t pump oil will lose their permits on federal land. This will require congressional authorization.

Secondly, the President said he will release 1 million barrels of oil a day from the National Petroleum Reserve. This will ne the largest release to date. He insisted the move will lower gas prices while estimating they could fall by as much as 35 cents per gallon.

Part two of @POTUS‘s plan will chart a path towards energy independence by accelerating our clean energy transition. This week, @POTUS will use DPA authority to secure American production of critical materials necessary for clean energy.

Read more: https://t.co/SmZytFmYIo

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 31, 2022

Biden also took aim at oil companies while accusing them of exploiting supply chain woes for their own gain. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump weighed-in on Biden’s decision to release at least 1 million barrels of oil a day from the Strategic National Reserves.

In a recent statement, Trump said his predecessor’s move is a “futile attempt to reduce oil and gasoline prices.” Trump then estimated that Biden will deplete the nation’s reserves, which he said his administration completely filled after decades of being mostly empty.

NEW!

President Donald J. Trump:

“So after 50 years of being virtually empty, I built up our oil reserves during my administration, and low energy prices, to 100% full. It’s called the Strategic National Reserves, and it hasn’t been full for many decades. In fact, it’s been… pic.twitter.com/zaC2MVnIqq

— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) March 31, 2022

In remarks at the White House, Biden sought to blame oil companies and Putin for the pain at the pump millions are experiencing nationwide. However, he insisted his plan to tap the Strategic Reserves for six-months will lower prices “fairly significantly.”