There is a report that the White House is mulling releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), but no formal decision has been made.
According to Politico there is fierce opposition to tapping the SPR. Those who oppose tapping the reserve say a release would solve what they consider the underlying problem (war?).
The Trump administration was critical of the by the administration for tapping the SPR after Russia invaded Ukraine. The SPR was at 394,000 thousand barrels at the start of the Trump term. The price of oil went to $55 on a number of dips since then.
The price of crude oil is trading above and below $100 today. The price reached a high of $119.48 overnight. The current US SPR is at 415,000 thousand barrels currently – up from the start of the Trump 2nd term, but not by much (+5.2%).
The SPR levels were around 700,000 thousand before the Russian invasion, and reached a low of around 346,000 thousand (at the end of July in 2023) before the modest rebuilding.
The average price of a gallon of gas is at $3.48 for regular grade which is up by about 17% from the start of the war.
Japan Finance minister is meanwhile saying that she had online meeting with G7 finance ministers, and discussed how Middle East situation would impact the economy and trade. G7 finance ministers would push to release emergency oil reserves.
Also EU economic Commissioner Dombrovskis reaffirmed that one of the options is to release oil reserves.
