The Biden administration is expected to start selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in an effort to moderate gas prices ahead of November’s midterm elections, according to a new Reuters report citing three sources familiar with the matter.
    One source said that President Joe Biden’s announcement will come later this week as part of his response to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
    Such a sale would put on the market the remaining 14 million barrels from Biden’s previously announced release of 180 million barrels that began in May. Additionally, the administration is mandated by a law passed by Congress to sell another 26 million barrels of SPR oil in fiscal year 2023.
    The administration is also expected to provide details this week regarding its plans to restock the SPR reserve. The Energy Department announced earlier this year that it was planning a new method of buybacks to permit a “competitive, fixed-price” bid process that would potentially lock in prices before crude oil is delivered.
    According to AAA data, the national average price for a gallon of gas declined three cents over the past week to hit $3.88—twenty cents higher than a month ago and fifty-six cents higher than a year ago. The elevated prices have helped boost inflation to the highest point in roughly four decades, posing a risk to the president and his fellow Democrats ahead of the midterms.
    “The administration has a small window ahead of midterms to try to lower fuel prices, or at least demonstrate that they are trying,” said one source familiar with the White House deliberations, per Reuters.
    “The White House did not like $4 a gallon gas and it has signaled that it will take action to prevent that again,” the source added.
The Biden administration is also looking at ways to respond to OPEC+’s recent decision to slash oil production beginning next month.
    OPEC+’s move represents the largest cut to production since 2020, when it reduced output by a record ten million barrels per day in response to plummeting demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The cut amounts to roughly 2 percent of the world’s daily oil production.
    As reported by NBC News, administration officials are considering trying to discourage American companies from expanding business ties with Saudi Arabia.