Silver State Times

Gas prices are rising again despite President Joe Biden announcing on March 31 the release of up to 180 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) over a six-month period, in his effort to curb high gas prices. The president said there would be a slight delay in declining gas prices by days and weeks, but the prices would eventually drop.

Motorists in Nevada will spend $834 more on gas than they did a year ago, according to this week's Gas Misery Index. Overall, Americans are paying $837 more on gas than when Biden took office with Nevada coming in at $5.40 per gallon, according to the report.

The SPR usually keeps around 700 million barrels of crude oil in the case of unstable market supply or international emergencies. The SPR webpage states it is the world's largest supply and the “sheer size” makes it a deterrent against oil cutoffs.

Pundits believe the SPR is unnecessary due to America's energy security but Robert Rapier, in an op-ed for Forbes, accuses Biden of using the SPR to help his party win in 2022. Biden announced he will refill the SPR, which Rapier predicts will happen after the 2024 elections. He calls Biden’s decision to tap into the SPR a “gamble” in that he must hope the U.S. does not encounter a foreign oil supply crisis, which the SPR was created to address.

As of April 1, the SPR held 564.58 million barrels of oil in stock. As of Sept. 30, the SPR inventory stood at 416.39 million barrels of oil, a decrease of 148 million barrels since Biden's initial release.

The national average price of gas is $3.92 per gallon, as of Tuesday, 19 cents higher than last month and 65 cents higher than last year. The national average rose 12 cents in one week, due to OPEC+’s announcement to cut production by two million barrels per day and more drivers filling up, according to AARP. High demand and the rise of oil prices lead to higher gas prices, says the AARP.

The SPR release runs counter to Biden’s executive order on federal oil and gas leases that was released on Jan. 27, 2021 to combat the “climate crisis.” The order lays out ways the administration will prioritize the climate crisis including “pause new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters pending completion of a comprehensive review.”

“An administration that has frequently emphasized the importance of reducing carbon emissions is trying to increase oil supplies to bring down rising oil prices — which will in turn help keep demand (and carbon emissions) high,” Rapier said.

The Washington Free Beacon reported on a Fox News interview with John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council in the White House, who said "We need to be less dependent on OPEC+ and foreign producers of resources like oil," after the OPEC+ cut announcement.

According to the Beacon, Kirby mentioned Biden’s sale of drilling rights to oil companies but did not mention Biden’s moratorium on new federal oil and gas leases (signed in his first week in office) or Biden’s previous statement from a 2020 debate: "No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period. Ends." The Beacon reports the Biden administration looks to foreign oil, relying on OPEC+, while stifling domestic production. With the midterm elections less than a month away, the Biden administration is doing everything they can to lower gas prices in the hopes of winning, the Beacon reported.

The Biden administration recently announced the release of 10 million more barrels from the SPR in November, according to Fox Business. The administration’s original plan was to stop releasing barrels from the SPR on Oct. 31, but due to OPEC’s decision to cut 2 million barrels per day, "The president will continue to direct SPR releases as appropriate to protect American consumers and promote energy security," said White House officials, according to Fox Business.