/data/photo/2022/03/29/62428e9f471e9.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "World Oil Prices Drop in Response to Biden’s Plan to Release 1 Million Barrels of Oil Per Day")
JAKARTAKOMPAS.com – The White House announced it would release 1 million barrels of oil per day from its reserves to cut gas prices and fight US inflation on Thursday (31/3/2022).
In the announcement, US President Joe Biden plans to tap into the country’s strategic oil reserves over the next six months as producers in the US increase production.
“The scale of this release is unprecedented, the world has never had a release of oil reserves at the rate of 1 million (barrel) per day for this time period. This record release will provide a historic supply amount that serves as a bridge to the end of the year when domestic production increases. ,” reads a White House release, quoted from CNBC.
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In response to the announcement, US crude oil prices declined on Thursday. International benchmark Brent crude futures for May fell 4 percent to trade at 108.89 dollars a barrel.
US crude futures fell 4.7 percent to 102.84 US dollars per barrel, and even earlier in the session, the contract was trading quite low at 100.16 US dollars per barrel.
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Biden blames Putin for soaring energy prices
The announcement of plans to release oil reserves comes as the United States looks for ways to curb a spike in energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As is known, oil prices had penetrated to their highest levels seen earlier this year, due to geopolitical turmoil and raising concerns about the availability of oil and natural gas.
On this condition, Biden commented on the government’s efforts to cool oil prices. Biden tends to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for the spike in energy prices.
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“Many people are no longer buying Russian oil around the world. I banned imported Russian oil in America, Republicans and Democrats in Congress are calling for and supporting it. It was the right thing to do,” Biden said.
The recent rise in crude oil prices has led to a spike in gasoline prices in the US. The spike has contributed to an increase in the prices consumers pay for all goods and services, as well as driving up inflation.
“We just got to the point where we might lose more than 1 million barrels. So that helps, but is unlikely to solve the problem,” said Roger Read, senior energy analyst at Wells Fargo Securities.
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