(SitNews) Washington, D.C.  – On November 23rd, President Biden announced the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of his ongoing eforts to lower prices and address lack of supply around the world. President Biden announced the Department of Energy will make available releases of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices for Americans and address the mismatch between demand exiting the pandemic and supply. This is done because American consumers are feeling the impact of elevated gas prices at the pump and in their home heating bills, and American businesses are, too, because oil supply has not kept up with demand as the global economy emerges from the pandemic as per the White House briefing.

According to the November 23rd White House briefing, the U.S. Department of Energy will make available releases of 50 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in two ways:

• 32 million barrels will be an exchange over the next several months, releasing oil that will eventually return to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the years ahead. The exchange is a tool matched to today’s specific economic environment, where markets expect future oil prices to be lower than they are today, and helps provide relief to Americans immediately and bridge to that period of expected lower oil prices. The exchange also automatically provides for re-stocking of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over time to meet future needs.
  
• 18 million barrels will be an acceleration into the next several months of a sale of oil that Congress had previously authorized.

This oil release will be taken in parallel with other major energy consuming nations including China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom. It was announced the President stands ready to take additional action, if needed, and is prepared to use his full authorities working in coordination with the rest of the world to maintain adequate supply as we exit the pandemic.

The Alaska Delegation all prepared individual statements in response to President's Biden's announcement.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released a prepared statement after the Biden administration announced on Nov. 23rd it will exchange and sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which is meant to be used to respond to severe energy supply disruptions. 

Murkowski also knocked the administration for pursuing this false solution – debunked as recently as last week at a hearing held by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (watch) on November 16th. – after months of supply-side restrictions that have added to current prices and kept U.S. energy producers on the sidelines.   

In her prepared statement Murkowski wrote:

“Americans, especially Alaskans, are being hurt by the impacts of rising energy costs. The Biden administration is responsible for providing substantive relief, but tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not going to provide it.

"Just last week in the Senate Energy Committee we heard from experts that releasing SPR oil will only result in temporary relief at the pump—maybe a few cents per gallon at best. The prices of Brent and WTI crude have actually increased in response to this announcement. And reports suggest that if these sales ever do marginally decrease the price of oil, OPEC+ will decrease production to offset it—wiping out any benefit this could have.

"Calls to restrict domestic exports are equally misguided and will be just as counterproductive. Credible analyses have shown that domestic exports do not increase domestic prices. Restricting our exports would ignore the last six years of real-world experience, where the United States emerged as the world's swing producer and brought prices to affordable levels. 

"In Alaska, the average price of gas today is $3.71 a gallon compared to a year ago when it was $2.48. The SPR band-aid will not come close to making up that difference, and may well backfire as a half-solution to a real problem. So I call on President Biden and his team to do the one thing that will make a difference: admit that long-term supply matters. Our supply matters. Work with American energy producers to increase domestic production. Drop the hostility against them, drop the supply-side restrictions, and recognize that producing more here at home is the best solution for lower prices,” in conclusion of her written statement.

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) also released a prepared statement in response to President Biden’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in what he said is an attempt to tame skyrocketing gas prices:

“The Biden administration’s incompetent and schizophrenic energy policies continue, and America’s working families are paying the price. Since Day 1, this administration has purposely sought to raise energy prices, by limiting the production of American energy, killing energy infrastructure like pipelines, and strong-arming American financial institutions to not invest in American energy projects, particularly in Alaska, all the while begging OPEC and our adversaries like Russia to produce more energy.

“Tapping our nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is political window dressing that will do little to counteract the Biden administration’s own destructive Green New Deal policies.

“Mr. President, I have a better idea. Get the boot of the federal government off the neck of energy producers in Alaska and other energy states and let them do what they do best—produce American energy for America with American workers and the highest environmental standards in the world! Don’t tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, tap into the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPRA)—where billions of barrels of oil are just waiting to be produced,” Sen Sullivan wrote in conclusion of his prepared statement.

Alaska Congressman Don Young also released a prepare statement in response to President Biden’s decision on November 23rd to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve:

"Across Alaska and the rest of our nation, hardworking American families are feeling the impacts of rising fuel prices. These costs touch every part of daily life. Whether it is increased heating expenses, more expensive groceries, or essential goods and services being out of reach, there is no doubt that oil prices and our dependence on OPEC are causing unnecessary stress on parents and their children. Today's move by President Biden to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is historical, but not the kind of headline news that should be celebrated. Very frankly, we did not need to get to this point, and we are only here because the Administration has stifled American resource exploration and hamstrung our hardworking energy labor force at every turn. Congress created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a security strategy to protect our nation from oil shortages during natural and economic disasters. Let me be very clear: this is not a crisis necessitating a dip into our strategic oil reserves; rather, this is an emergency created purely by political malfeasance and broken promises. Anybody paying attention to this Administration's energy policies is not surprised. 

"There is no reason for President Biden to release the reserves when so much domestic energy is readily available. Alaska is home to rich oil reserves, which we can extract with far higher environmental standards than Russia, Venezuela, or any OPEC member country. The tiny sliver of land on ANWR's Coastal Plain stands ready to both alleviate this oil crisis and prevent us from opening our oil reserves. In 1980, then-Senator Joe Biden voted for the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which allowed for oil extraction on ANWR's Coastal Plain in the first place. Unfortunately, President Biden refuses to remember his vote as Senator Biden, because this Administration has acted to stop extraction on the Coastal Plain, snuffing out the potential for well-paying jobs and Alaskan-driven energy independence. The Biden Administration has repeatedly blocked American energy projects under the guise of preventing carbon emissions. I hate to break it to them, but fossil fuels from the Strategic Oil Reserve are still indeed carbon-emitting energy sources. Why then would we want to cut into our national safety net when we can get what American families truly need right from our own 49th state?

"This is a sad day for our country, and it should have never gotten to this point. Higher gas prices hurt families, threaten jobs, stifle our economic recovery, and only make us more beholden to foreign interests. I strongly oppose withdrawing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, especially at a time where the holidays and the harshest winter nights are yet to come. This is reckless; we must ensure the reserve is fully stocked and ready for true emergencies. In the meantime, I call on President Biden to come visit Alaska's North Slope with me. Meet with the hardworking men and women who keep our country moving and learn how they take care to balance energy exploration with the protection of our ecosystems. Alaska is a model for the nation, and I ask President Biden to allow us to do our part to lower gas prices and secure American energy independence," wrote in conclusion of Congressman Young's response to the Presiden's announcement.

 

Source of News:

White House
www.whitehouse.gov

Office of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski
www.murkowski.senate.gov

Office of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan
www.sullivan.senate.gov

Office of U.S. Congressman Don Young
www.donyoung.house.gov

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