Biden plans to release more oil

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he will release 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves and possibly more this winter. This will be the last of the 180 million barrels he authorized in March. He hopes to bring down gas prices. Reserves are now at their lowest level in almost 40 years with about 400 million barrels left. Biden made the announcement two weeks after OPEC+ said it would lower its oil production goal by 2 million barrels a day. 

When will he refill the reserve? Biden said the government will restock the strategic oil reserves when oil prices drop to between $67 and $72 a barrel. That’s about a $10 drop per barrel from the current price. The White House is trying to assure oil producers that if they ramp up production, lowering the price per barrel, they’ll be able to sell it even if demand drops. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Nick Eicher’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about the policies fueling high oil prices.