Biden says release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will lower gas prices
Delivering remarks on Tuesday, President Biden said the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move done in coordination with other countries, which was announced earlier in the day by the White House, will help relieve the lack of oil supply and lower gas prices.
Video Transcript
JOE BIDEN: Today, though, I want to address another challenge that families are facing and the one I think they're most focused on right now, high gas prices. This is a problem, not just here in the United States, but around the world. The price of gasoline has reached record levels recently in Europe and in Asia. In France, at the end of the last month, it reached about $7 per gallon.
In Japan, it's about $5.50 per gallon, the highest it's been in years. Of course, it's always painful when gas prices spike. Today the price of gas in America on average is $3.40 a gallon. In California it's much higher.
The impact is real, but the fact is we faced even worse spikes before, just in the last decade. We saw it in 2012 when the price of gasoline hit $3.90. We saw it in 2014 when it hit $3.69 and as recently as 2019, we saw it surpassed $3 in many places.
The fact is we always get through those spikes but we're going to get through this one as well and hopefully faster, but it doesn't mean we should just stand by idly and wait for prices to draw upon their own. Instead we're taking action. The big part of the reason Americans are facing high gas prices because oil producing countries and large companies have not ramped up the supply of oil quickly enough to meet the demand and the smaller supply means higher prices globally for oil.
To address these issues, I got on the phone with leaders from other countries grappling with this challenge to try to find ways to lower oil prices and ultimately to the price you pay at the pump. So today I'm announcing that the largest ever release from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help provide a supply we need as we recover from this pandemic. In addition, I brought together other nations to contribute to the solution.
India, Japan Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom have agreed to release additional oil from their reserves and China may do more as well. This coordinated action will help us deal with the lack of supply, which in turn helps ease prices. The bottom line, today we're launching a major effort to moderate the price of oil, an effort that will span the globe and its reach and ultimately reach your corner gas station, God willing. I've worked hard these past few weeks on calls and meetings with foreign leaders, policymakers, to put together the building blocks for today's global announcement.
And while our combined actions will not solve the problem of high gas prices overnight, it will make a difference. It will take time, but before long you should see the price of gas drop where you fill up your tank. And in the longer term, we will reduce our reliance on oil as we shift to clean energy, but right now I will do what needs to be done to reduce the price you pay at the pump. From the middle class and working families that are spending much too much and it's a strain and you're the reason I was sent here to look out for you.
