Biden: 30 countries joining US release of oil reserves
The largest release of strategic oil stockpiles in history has been joined by 30 countries.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden said that more than 30 countries have joined Washington in tapping the national oil reserves in an attempt at calming down global oil markets which have seen an increase in prices after the war broke out in Ukraine.
"This morning, over 30 countries from across the world convened in an extraordinary meeting and agreed to the release of tens of millions of additional barrels of oil onto the market," Biden said in an address from the White House.
Read more: US consumer prices witness biggest jump in 40 years
On Thursday, Biden announced a record release from the US strategic oil stockpile, which will see a release of a million barrels a day for 6 months. This is by far the largest release of strategic stockpile in history, aimed at calming down inflation that has affected the US and European economies alike.
Washington recorded its worst inflation in 40 years in January, marking a 7% high - those numbers have only exacerbated with the inflation in the US when the war in Ukraine began.
Biden accuses the "Russian invasion of Ukraine" is what triggered inflation in the US, in addition to increasing oil prices in world markets.
Oil prices calmed a little on Friday, reaching just under $100 a barrel.
Biden gaslights causes behind soaring gas prices
Though the gas price hike has been going up since the start of the pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be the perfect scapegoat for all energy dilemmas in the US today.
In March 2020, Biden, who was a candidate at the time, said "No more subsidies for the fossil fuel industry! No more drilling on federal lands! No more drilling, including offshore! No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period. [It] ends. Number one!" when he declared war on US energy independence.
Earlier this month, Biden suddenly changed his rhetoric: "Loosening environmental regulations won’t lower prices. But transforming our economy to run on electric vehicles, powered by clean energy, will mean that no one will have to worry about gas prices. It will mean tyrants like Putin won’t be able to use fossil fuels as a weapon."
According to a report by The Hill, this might have been the most "disconnected, tone-deaf" message coming from the White House recently.
Gas prices have been increasing in the US, reaching their most expensive point in history: $4.17 per gallon, or more. Just before Biden took office, the price was at $2.38 per gallon.
Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris, along with their pundits on American television, are telling US citizens to 'go green' and buy an electric vehicle, putting a band-aid on the core problem.
On March 7, in the crosshairs of US and European sanctions on Russia and Russian companies, Harris dealt with the rising inflation and gas prices by bringing up "addressing the climate crisis."