According to President Joe Biden, Tuesday’s announcement by the White House was that the Administration will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a worldwide effort of energy-consuming countries to slow the rapid rise in fuel costs for 2021.

This is the first coordinated release of this nature between the United States, India, China and Japan.

U.S.A will allow 50 million barrels to be released from SPR. The exchange of 32 million barrels over the coming months will take place, and 18 million barrels is an acceleration of an already authorized sale.

The White House released a statement saying that the President is ready to act if necessary and was prepared to work in concert with other countries to ensure adequate supplies as we leave the pandemic.

The Tuesday announcement comes after the administration has been stating for several months that it is looking at the available tools. West Texas Intermediate crude futuresThe stock market soared to $85, a 7-year record.

As prices have risen, so has the price of gas. At the moment they are hovering at or near their highest levels in seven years. AAA reported that the average national price of a gallon was $3.409, up slightly from $2.11 last year.

Granholm, Energy Secretary, stated that “this action underlines the President’s determination to use the available tools to bring down the costs for working family and to continue the economic recovery.”

According to the Department of Energy, the SPR had 604.5 million barrels at four locations as of November 19, according to DofE. DofE says that the oil will reach the markets 13 days following a presidential announcement.

The total capacity of the SPR (727 Million Barrels), was 727 MILLION. It was established in 1975 following the Arab Oil Embargo.

According to DofE guidelines, there are three options for tapping the SPR: you can tap it full to offset a “severe disruption in energy,” or you can draw down a small amount of oil up to 30million barrels. Or, you could use an SPR drawdown to exchange, test, or sell.