Biden sends oil reserves abroad as Americans cope with gas prices

More than 5 million barrels of oil from President Joe Biden’s “unprecedented” release from the nation’s emergency petroleum reserves were shipped overseas last month as domestic energy prices reached record highs amid roaring inflation.

According to Reuters, the fuel was exported to Europe and Asia as American consumers coped with a $5 average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline and $5.81 for diesel.

“The [Strategic Petroleum Reserve] remains a critical energy security tool to address global crude oil supply disruptions,” a spokesman for the Department of Energy told Reuters in a statement. The release to overseas nations, the representative added, helped stable the supply of oil, with shipments to the Netherlands, India, and China. Another ship is expected to carry American reserve oil overseas later this month. …

The consequences of Biden’s reserve drawdowns have been minimal to blunt high gas prices in a nation that uses about 20 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration. In fact, each release has been followed by steep increases at the pump.

By the end of Biden’s six-month release, the White House will have tapped 260 million barrels from the emergency reserves within two years of his inauguration, leaving the stockpile at its lowest level since 1986. In May, the Department of Energy announced plans to replenish only 60 million barrels of what’s been released despite an authorized storage capacity of 714 million barrels.