Biden pours 50 million barrels of oil to lower gasoline prices

In Glasgow, the US president called on other countries to use less oil to preserve the climate. Big contradiction.

US President Joe Biden has ordered the use of 50 million barrels of oil from the country’s strategic oil reserves. Biden hopes the move will help bring down high fuel prices and prevent stronger inflation.

The average price of gasoline in the US is now around NOK 30.44 per gallon – which is equivalent to NOK 8.04 per liter.

This is low compared to Norway, but prices have risen sharply in the past year. Rising prices make it difficult for inflation-stricken American consumers to keep up.

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Not the time for more oil and gas

It’s been more than three weeks since Biden called global warming a “threat to human existence” and called on the international community to cut back on fossil fuel use.

Work and solidarity. He said this is what is required bite in speech.

The President of the United States receives harsh criticism from the American climate organizations. The Center for Biological Diversity sued authorities this fall to auction 308 oil and gas licenses in the Gulf of Mexico.

– It’s a huge contradiction in the way they act now. Now it’s all on deck for the climate, and it’s not time for more oil and gas production, says Jan Su of the Center for Biodiversity for the Washington Post.

Robert Stavins, director of the Environmental Economics Program at Harvard University Newspaper That Biden is not necessarily inconsistent in trying to cope with the long-term climate crisis while trying to eliminate short-term problems such as inflation. But more oil on the market is undoubtedly bad news for the climate anyway.

“Everything you do to bring down the price of fossil fuels, whether it’s coal or petroleum, is not supporting stopping climate change,” Stavins says.

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Other countries will follow suit

United States according to CNN Negotiating with many of the world’s largest economies in order to coordinate efforts against the energy crisis. Biden mentions that China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom will follow.

Rystad Energy’s oil analyst Bjornar Tonhugen said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that Biden’s grip is quite unusual. This is the first time these countries, including China, have released more oil to the market in this coordinated manner.

Tonhaugen expects that more than 60 million to 70 million barrels of oil could be released in total. The big question is whether OPEC+ will stand by and watch other countries put pressure on oil prices. The analyst at Rystad believes that the issue will be discussed when the oil-producing countries meet next week.

– If OPEC+ views the move as aggressive, the group could theoretically curb production until January to preserve profits, Tonhaugen says.

The strategic oil reserves of the United States, located virtually along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, contain more than 600 million barrels of oil in total.

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