The United States of America intends to withdraw an additional 15 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserve in an effort to reduce prices.
According to Arabiya Net, US President Joe Biden will announce a decision on this step in a speech today, Wednesday, as a US official said, requesting anonymity.
The official noted that the president will make clear that the administration is prepared to make significant additional sales this winter if they are needed due to Russian or other measures disrupting global markets.
This amount, which will be pumped into the market in December, is the last tranche of a program announced by the US President in the spring, which calls for the release of 180 million barrels to counter the high oil prices linked to the Russian war on Ukraine.
The news that was reported on Tuesday by a number of US media outlets regarding this decision, was sufficient to lower oil prices, as the price of West Texas Intermediate oil for November delivery fell 3.08% to $82.82 per barrel.
The senior US official told reporters, on Tuesday, that the president had instructed the Energy Department to prepare to sell more (strategic reserve oil) this winter if necessary, whether because of Russia or because of other activities that could cause market disruption.
He added that Biden intends at the same time to put in place a mechanism that would reconstitute the strategic reserve in the long term.
He explained that the US government will start buying back oil when the price of West Texas Intermediate crude falls to between $67 and $72 a barrel.
In response to a question about the possibility of limiting US oil exports or suspending these exports temporarily, the official explained that the Biden administration is keeping all tools on the table, anything that can help secure the supply of the American market.
With the November 8 legislative elections approaching, Biden is doing his best to reduce fuel prices in the United States, as this may have a negative impact on his popularity and the results of his Democratic Party candidates in the elections.
Although gasoline prices are down 22% since mid-June when they peaked, they are still 16% higher than they were in the same period last year.
As for diesel, its price has fallen slightly since June, due to the small stock of this commodity being sold today, at more than 50% compared to its price last year.
Since the beginning of September 2021, the United States has withdrawn more than 212 million barrels from the strategic reserve, which reached its lowest level since June 1984.
The same official pointed out that Biden called on oil companies to immediately convey to their customers lower energy prices, noting that keeping prices high when costs are low is unacceptable.
