Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-7) blasted the Biden administration’s depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on Tuesday.
“Depleting our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to save face politically is completely reckless (and won’t ease gas prices),” said Green in a tweet.
Green’s criticism additionally amplified a tweet by the U.S. House Republican Caucus, which said, “President Biden has continued to recklessly deplete the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is meant for war or major weather events, for his political benefit. Now, the SPR is at its lowest point since 1987.”
According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, our nation’s stockpiles of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell to 538 million barrels, which is the lowest level since 1987.
The Biden administration has released roughly 3.9 million barrels of sour crude oil and 1.1 million barrels of sweet crude into the market.
In late May, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced an “additional Notice of Sale of up to 40.1 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).”
That announcement is part of the Biden administration’s pledge “to release one million barrels of crude oil a day for six months.”
According to the U.S. DOE, 90 million barrels will be released between May and August through two notices of sale totaling 70 million barrels and 20 million barrels from ongoing emergency sales. DOE has been executing on this announcement releasing oil from the Reserve at approximately that rate over the last several weeks.”
The Biden administration blames Putin’s war on Ukraine for the rising energy costs but has neglected to address domestic energy policy concerns.
According to the Gas Misery Index, as of May 27, Tennesseans are paying an additional $833 per year on gas and Americans nationwide are spending an additional $819 a year.
A chart on Gas Buddy shows that nationwide average gas prices per gallon continue to set 10-year record highs as do the averages in Tennessee.
