The latest oil prices may drive the Biden administration to release about 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
This latest development is slated to happen around December and is expected to drive down the high gas prices.
Releasing about 15 million barrels from the US reserves is part of the directive Joe Biden gave in March 2022 to release more than 180 million barrels.
The midterm elections are coming next month, and many people feel that Joe Biden's directive is also part of his plans to get more votes.
This recent move by Joe Biden comes just two weeks after OPEC and its Allies said they would cut down oil production by 2 million barrels.
While addressing the public, one of the government officials said that the US government remains very able and vigilant to take more measures to bring down the soaring oil prices.
"If we need to deal with additional challenges with supply, with affordability, we will have an additional opportunity with the SPR if we need to make more sales into the future beyond," the government spokesperson said.
However, the officials refused to give more details concerning the oil release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
What is Joe Biden Saying
President Joe Biden will address the public concerning the latest oil prices, according to a Whitehouse official.
While addressing the issue, Biden is expected to announce his administration's plans to refill the reserves.
According to those who have more details about the matter, how the US seeks to refill the reserve is unknown. But there have been talks between those involved on how to go about it.
Gas prices today are slightly lower than what was seen last week after OPEC announced they would be cutting down oil production.
After the announcement by Saudi Arabia and other OPEC Allies, Biden has promised a swift response. Despite promises, analysts have already established that Biden's options to stabilise gas prices are slim.
Gas prices had come down for a moment this summer after they saw a high of $5.02 per gallon. But it had started to increase after some outages were recorded in some places such as Ohio and California.
According to the Energy Information Administration, the 15 million barrels added in December is slightly less than the average daily use in the US.
What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a stockpile where oil is stored so that the United States can access oil, assuming there's any emergency.
The emergencies here include national security, natural disasters, or economic threats. Most US reserves are stored in salt domes along the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coasts.
The reserve was established in 1975 after the US experienced an energy crisis in 1973. The United States has been tapping from the reserves whenever there's a critical issue, such as oil shortages.
Before the Biden administration started making massive releases from the reserve, Barack Obama was the last president who was known to make significant releases. In 2011, Obama ordered the release of about 30 million barrels from the reserve.