Washington: US President Joe Biden is reportedly planning to sell more oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower fuel prices ahead of next month's congressional elections.
The administration is also expected to release further details on the timing for refilling the stockpile, reflecting its desire to combat rising pump prices while also supporting domestic drillers with future demand for their oil, they said.
Biden will deliver remarks Wednesday to announce the drawdown from the strategic reserve, senior administration officials said Tuesday on the condition of anonymity to outline Biden's plans.
The White House and Department of Energy did not respond to requests for comment.
It completes the release of 180 million barrels authorized by Biden in March that was initially supposed to occur over six months.
That has sent the strategic reserve to its lowest level since 1984 in what the administration called a “bridge” until domestic production could be increased. The reserve now contains roughly 400 million barrels of oil.
Rising retail gasoline prices have helped boost inflation to the highest in decades, posing a risk to Biden and his fellow Democrats ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, in which they are seeking to keep control of Congress.
Yet the president is also expected to renew his criticism of the profits reaped by oil companies — repeating a bet made this summer that public condemnation would matter more to these companies than shareholders' focus on returns.
Even if voters want cheaper gasoline, expected gains in supply are not materializing because of a weaker global economy. The U.S. The government last week revised downward its forecasts, saying that domestic firms would produce 270,000 fewer barrels a day in 2023 than was forecast in September. Global production would be 600,000 barrels a day lower than forecast in September.
Biden has resisted the policies favoured by the U.S. oil producers. Instead, he's sought to reduce prices by releasing oil from the U.S. reserve, shaming oil companies for their profits and calling on greater production from countries in OPEC+ that have different geopolitical interests, said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute.