Oil Prices Down As Biden Considers Largest Ever Draw From Emergency Reserve
On Wednesday, US sources said the Biden administration is considering releasing up to 180 million barrels of oil across several months from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in a bid to lower fuel prices.
Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) will meet on Friday to decide on a collective oil release, a spokesperson for New Zealand’s energy minister told Reuters via a Thursday email: "The amount of the potential collective release has not been decided [...] That meeting will set a total volume, and per country allocations will follow.”
It remains unclear as to whether the US’ potential draw would come as part of a wider global coordinated release. If Biden does choose to draw from the SPR, it would be the largest draw in the SPR’s almost 50-year history.
US President Biden is expected to deliver an update on his administration’s actions on Thursday, the White House has said.
Following the news, global oil prices plummeted more than $5 per barrel, having surged since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
