The White House hinted Tuesday that President Joe Biden is considering another release of oil from the Strategic Oil Reserves, as gas prices continue to rise.
White House Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh said Biden would coordinate with major energy consumers to address higher energy prices, after the president announced a “first tranche” of sanctions against Russia after Vladimir Putin moved into Ukraine.
“We all have reserves at our disposal, and those reserves could help support the supply of energy worldwide,” Singh said during the White House press briefing.
Biden already announced a record-high release of oil from the strategic reserves in 2021, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday driving season.
Gas prices, however, continued rising in 2022. As of February 21, the average cost for a gallon of gas was $3.53 with prices expected to reach six or seven dollars a gallon.
Singh said the White House with energy producers would continue exploring ways to improve the global supply of oil to the country and would work with energy companies to “surge” the capacity of oil to the markets.
“I don’t want to go into specifics, but there are actions that energy consumers can take with their strategic reserves,” he said.
Biden told Americans Tuesday to prepare for higher energy costs as a result of his sanctions leveled on Russia.
“As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs for us as well, here at home,” he said. “We need to be honest about that.”
Biden vowed he would use “every tool” at his disposal to limit the impact on gas prices.
“I want to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump,” he said. “This is critical to me.”
But Biden’s efforts to bring down gas prices have mostly failed, as the cost of gas has increased nearly a dollar a gallon since he first took office.
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