OHIO — President Joe Biden has announced a plan to sell an additional 15 million barrels of crude oil from the country's strategic oil reserves. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve drawdown completes the release of 180 million barrels that Biden initially authorized in March.
 

What You Need To Know

  • On Wednesday, President Biden announced the sale of an additional 15 million barrels from the nation's strategic oil reserves

  • Biden said the action will help ​stabilize markets and decrease prices

  • Biden also outlined plans for the government to purchase oil to restock the strategic reserve 

 

Biden pointed to the actions as helping strengthen energy security, address supply issues and lower gas prices.

The strategic reserve has been pushed to its lowest level since 1984, and currently sits at approximately 400 million barrels of oil.

However, the President mentioned a plan to restock the strategic oil reserve when oil prices are at or lower than $67 to $72 a barrel.​

“Oil companies can invest to ramp up production now with confidence that they will be able to sell their oil to us at that price in the future,” Biden said. 

Spectrum News discussed the Biden administration's plan with Jonathan Ernest, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics in the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. 

"So tapping into this strategic reserve essentially just means that the country has strategically stockpiled an amount of oil and we're releasing some of that out into the market," Ernest said. He said the move is aimed at keeping gasoline prices “a bit lower,” and helping manage supply chain disruptions.