Biden’s SPR Release a Cynical CYA Exercise in Spin

“President Biden’s Thanksgiving feast of 50 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a cynical exercise directed more to influence his falling poll numbers than actually helping bring down gas prices for hard-pressed American families. From his first day in office, President Biden has championed policies designed specifically to curtail the production and distribution of our oil resources and increase the cost of gasoline. Perhaps his release of our strategic national reserve is a sign that his policies are working too well.

“On day one, President Biden stopped thousands of Americans from working on the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, which would have delivered long-term supplies of oil to our refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. Biden also suspended leasing on 2.46 billion acres of federal lands and waters – illegally, as it turns out – and only held the first lease sale last week under a judge’s orders.

“President Biden has presided over an energy policy that has made Russia our number two importer of oil. The Administration shut down congressionally mandated lease sales in ANWR and the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, while Russia now supplies twice as much oil as we get from Alaska. Now, when Americans are feeling the impact of gas prices at a seven-year high, he wants more oil on the market.

“Biden’s plan ignores the fact that market analysts have already factored the release into the price of oil, meaning the savings at the pump will barely register. Meanwhile, Bank of America predicts that oil prices will reach $120 per barrel next year, when those million barrels are expected to be returned to the SPR. That’s hardly a good deal for our refiners.

“After ten months of the most extreme anti-oil and natural gas agenda ever from a sitting president, Biden’s SPR release is like raiding the pantry while starving the farmer. No thanks, Joe.”