Biden could once again dip into depleted oil reserves as the election approaches

The Biden administration is open to releasing more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) if prices rise in the coming months, a top adviser to the president told the Financial Times.

Amos Hochstein, one of President Joe Biden's top energy aides, suggested the administration could turn to the SPR to lower prices if they rise in the coming months for a interview with the Financial Times. The Biden administration released about 180 million barrels from the SPR in the months leading up to the 2022 midterm elections, when high energy costs were causing political problems for Democrats, leaving the stockpile near its lowest levels in about 40 years, seconds to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

“We will do everything we can to make sure the market is well-served enough to ensure as low a price as possible for American consumers,” Hochstein told the Financial Times. “I think we have enough in the SPR if needed,” he said, adding that prices “are still too high for many Americans.”

Biden admin buys millions of barrels to fill oil reserves after Democrats blast Trump for lower-price refueling plan https://t.co/rFGmsyJh1s

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 29, 2024

The administration has done efforts to replenish the SPR, but these replenishment purchases have not returned the stock to pre-withdrawal levels, according to EIA data. The national average price of a gallon of gasoline is currently approx $3.45a price that is not as high as the costs in 2022, but still 50% higher than in 2021, according to the Financial Times.

So have oil prices interfered with with some attempts to replenish the reserve by rising above the administration's price range. Especially the Democrats criticized Former President Donald Trump's proposal to complete the SPR by 2020 came as the pandemic drove down oil prices, describing the idea as corporate welfare for major energy companies.

Several million SPR barrels released before the 2022 election ended up being sold to Chinese entities.

Some White House officials are as reported fears that gas prices may rise before the election, and that the administration may not be able to lean on the SPR to address the problem as it did before the midterms in 2022. The Department of Energy (DOE ) recently announced that it would be breaking free 1 million barrels of gas from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve during the summer months to try to control prices at the pump.

The DOE and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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