According to the Wall Street Journal, President Biden has announced that his administration will seek to refill the US oil reserves when oil prices oscillate “between $67 to $72 a barrel, or less”. This comes after the United States released the most significant quantity of oil from its own emergency petroleum reserves.
This decision was met with skepticism from experts and analysts. Olivier Le Peuch, chief executive of oil-field services company Schlumberger Ltd, told the Wall Street Journal that it is “a little bit more [complex] than this.”
Moreover, experts contend that this move is unlikely to promote increased production because oil companies intend to take advantage of the current high commodity prices spurred on by the shortage in production worldwide.
President Biden has also declared that, on December, 15 million barrels will be added to the 180 million barrels already sold, with prospects of adding more if necessary, says the Wall Street Journal. According to federal data, the same source states that this was met by a very small increase in production, 6% more than January’s production.