United States President Joe Biden has approved the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the country's oil reserves in an attempt to mitigate the effect of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on gas prices, the White House and International Energy Agency (IEA) announced on Tuesday.
The U.S. and its other ally countries agreed to release a total of 60 million barrels of oils from their reserves, with half of the total coming from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The remaining 30 million barrels will be taken from allies in Europe and Asia. The list of countries includes Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, and other major European countries and includes Japan and South Korea.
Millions of Oil Barrels
On Tuesday, the International Energy Agency announced that member countries have already agreed to the release of oil barrels from emergency reserves. Authorities wanted to send a "strong message to global oil markets that there will be no shortfall" as a result of Russia's aggression in Ukraine.
The White House also released a statement saying that the release was just another example of partners around the world condemning Russia's actions. Authorities said that the recent release showed cooperation between nations to address the impact of Moscow's war of choice, as per CNN.
The situation comes as Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall introduced legislation on Tuesday that urges the White House to ban all Russian oil imports into the United States. The proposal aims to block the importation of petroleum and petroleum products from Russia.
The Energy Committee GOP Leader, Sen. John Barrasso, and at least seven other Republicans in the upper chamber expressed their support of the bill. In an interview, Marshall said that United States President Joe Biden needed to prioritize restarting America's energy production and stop the funding of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine.
According to Fox News, the Republican's proposal comes one day after Canadian authorities decided to block imports of crude oil in protest of Russia's actions against Ukraine. On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau said that despite the fact that the country only imported a small number of Russian petroleum products, the decision to block them was sending a "powerful message."
Price of Oil
The global catastrophe has caused gas prices in nations worldwide to shoot up, with the U.S. seeing a surge on Tuesday. The price of crude oil hit its highest level in the country since June 2014.
The U.S. oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped 11.5% at the highs of the day to $106.78 per barrel. On the other hand, International benchmark Brent crude hit a high of $107.57 per barrel, a price only last seen in July 2014.
On Thursday, when Russia decided to mobilize its military for a full-scale operation in Ukraine, prices topped the $100 mark. The situation prompted fears of supply disruptions from key exporter Russia in what many say is already a very tight market.
The IEA's decision to release 60 million barrels of oil attempts to mitigate some of the current supply constraints. The agency's executive director, Faith Birol, released a statement saying that the situation in energy markets right now was very alarming, CNBC reported.
Related Article:
Joe Biden: US Should Not Fear Nuclear War Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis
