US could change oil reserve release schedule if prices fall: official

The government of Joe Biden could adjust the timing of its planned release of strategic crude reserves if world energy prices fall substantially, said the Undersecretary for Energy of USA, David Turk.

He added that other consuming countries that had agreed to release strategic reserves in concert with the United States to contain prices could also adjust their timing if necessary.

“I believe that each country will make decisions based on what is useful and good for its consumers, and based on where the price is,” he said.

The Biden administration had announced last month that it would release 50 million barrels from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, along with smaller deliveries from China, India, Japan, South Korea and the UK, to help cut costs. energy of consumers.

The unusual agreement was intended to control the rise in energy prices after the OPEC producer group and its allies rejected repeated requests from Washington and other consuming countries to pump faster to meet rising demand as the world began to come out of the pandemic.

However, oil prices have fallen since then, amid concerns that the new omicron variant of the coronavirus will spread and cause large shutdowns, reducing global energy demand.

“The president gave us flexibility,” Turk said of the release of strategic reserves planned by the United States.

“So if the price of oil drops significantly, if the supply difficulties that consumers across our country, and around the world are currently experiencing, dissipate for whatever reason, then we will use the tools differently.” he added.

Turk noted that the White House is still studying proposals by some of Biden’s Democratic lawmakers to ban crude exports to keep prices low, and said it remains among the range of tools the administration could eventually use.