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US President Joe Biden announces the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day for the next six months from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve at the White House on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Ukraine war: Joe Biden orders historic emergency oil release in ‘moment of peril’ for world

  • From May, the US will release 1 million barrels per day for six months from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as fuel prices soar amid Russia’s invasion
  • Biden also called for increased US oil production and boosts in production of electric vehicles and batteries, as well as a move to clean energy policies
Ukraine war

US President Joe Biden on Thursday launched the largest release ever from the country’s emergency oil reserve and challenged oil companies to drill more in an attempt to bring down fuel prices that have soared during Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Starting in May, the United States will release 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil for six months from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), he said.

“This is a moment of consequence and peril for the world, and pain at the pump for American families,” Biden said at an event at the White House.

“It’s also a moment of patriotism,” Biden said, as he asked oil company executives to serve their customers and American families, instead of the investors they have rewarded with billions of dollars in dividends.

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Oil prices skyrocket around the world as result of Russia-Ukraine conflict, sanctions

Oil prices skyrocket around the world as result of Russia-Ukraine conflict, sanctions

He also called on Congress to make companies pay a fee if they are sitting thousands of unused oil and gas leases and wells on public lands.

Biden’s 180 million-barrel release is equivalent to about two days of global demand, and marks the third time Washington has tapped the SPR in the past six months.

It will more than cover oil exports to the United States from Russia, which Biden banned this month. Russia typically produces about 10 per cent of the world’s crude, but only accounts for 8 per cent of US liquid fuel imports.

But the release will fall short of a loss of about 3 million bpd of Russian oil which the International Energy Agency estimates will be caused by Western sanctions and as global buyers avoid the oil.

Putin tells Europe: pay in roubles or we’ll cut off your gas

Biden also called on US oil companies to drill more, and for boosts in production of electric vehicles and batteries.

The Biden administration has worked with allies in the IEA in recent weeks to coordinate releases which will bring the total volume to global markets to well over 1 million barrels per day, the official said.

The IEA, the world’s energy watchdog, may announce a release when its 31 member states meet on Friday.

The group, representing industrialised nations including the US, but not Russia, presided over the fourth coordinated oil release in its history on March 1 of over 60 million barrels of crude – its largest yet. The US portion of that release was about half of the total.

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Washington bans Russian oil and gas imports over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine

Washington bans Russian oil and gas imports over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine

Oil prices plunged about 5 per cent on the news of the latest US reserve draws while OPEC+, a production group including Saudi Arabia and Russia, stuck to a modest deal to slowly ramp up output.

The Biden administration has long said that energy companies are sitting on thousands of unused leases and are slow to open the spigot.

Biden called for a “use it or lose it” policy that will seek to push oil companies to take advantage of unused oil leasing permits.

“We do think there should be consequences if you’re sitting on unused approved permits for production on federal lands,” a senior administration official told reporters before Biden spoke.

Poland to end Russian oil imports; Germany issues warning over gas supplies

Oil companies say they like to have a deep inventory of permits to give them flexibility on future planning and that labour and logistical constraints can be a headwind in using them.

Biden also invoked the Defence Production Act to support the production and processing of minerals and materials used for large capacity batteries used in electric vehicles – such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese.

He also called on Congress to pass his plan to move the country toward clean energy policies.

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