U.S. to Give Half of 60M Reserve Barrel Oil Release to Combat Price Spike

The U.S. will provide half of the 60 million barrels of oil set to be released from emergency reserves around the world in response to spiking prices, the U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday.

Oil prices have climbed to their highest marks in seven years following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The rising costs have elevated gas prices amid concerns about possible disruptions to the energy industry, in which Russia is one of the world's largest oil producers. Industry experts have said most U.S. states could see the cost of a single gallon of gas rise by 5 to 10 cents in the coming weeks, with further fluctuations possible depending upon how the military conflict proceeds.

President Joe Biden said last week that his administration would use "every tool at our disposal" to combat rising gas prices and said U.S. officials were working with other countries on a plan to tap into emergency reserves in an effort to alleviate some of the pain at the pump.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced the details of that plan following an emergency meeting of its Governing Board on Tuesday. Sixty million barrels of oil will be released in total, the IEA said, amounting to about 4 percent of the oil kept by the agency's 31 member nations in their emergency reserves. Tuesday's decision marks the fourth time the IEA has issued a collective release of oil reserves from member countries in its nearly 50-year history, the agency noted.

The IEA said it will pay close attention to gas prices and demand in the days ahead to determine whether further strategic oil releases may be necessary.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who chaired the IEA's Tuesday meeting, said Biden signed off on the U.S. releasing 30 million barrels from its strategic reserves. The U.S. is "prepared to take additional measures if conditions warrant," Granholm said in a Tuesday statement.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday the collaborative strategic oil release stands as "another example of partners around the world condemning Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and working together to address the impact of President Putin's war of choice."

"President Biden was clear from the beginning that all tools are on the table to protect American businesses and consumers, including from rising prices at the pump," Psaki said.

Russia has an "outsized role" in the energy industry, the IEA said, contributing an estimated 12 percent of the world's exported crude oil and about 15 percent of its exported petroleum products. Russia is also one of the top five countries from which the U.S. imported petroleum in 2020, according to data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The IEA noted that countries in Europe have a "significant reliance" on natural gas imported from Russia and said it will soon offer tips on how those countries can limit that dependence by the next winter season. Psaki said the U.S. will also work to "accelerate diversification of energy supplies away from Russia" and "secure the world from Moscow's weaponization of oil and gas."

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Energy Information Administration for comment and will update this article with any response.