The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it would release a total of 1 million barrels of gasoline from storage sites in the Northeast, touting a move officials said would help lower gas prices for consumers ahead of the summer driving season.
But the average consumption of gasoline in the United States is 8 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration, meaning the Energy Department’s efforts would only amount to three hours’ worth of additional fuel for the country.
Energy Department officials said the drawdowns will be conducted at two gasoline reserve sites in New Jersey and Maine, and they are designed to “lower costs for American families and consumers.” Both sites are part of the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve created in the wake of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 to help avoid a fuel supply shortage.
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“The Biden-Harris Administration is laser focused on lowering prices at the pump for American families, especially as drivers hit the road for summer driving season,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement accompanying the new notice of sale. “By strategically releasing this reserve in between Memorial Day and July 4th, we are ensuring sufficient supply flows to the tri-state and northeast at a time hardworking Americans need it the most.”
The sales will be made in quantities of 100,000 barrels at a time, DOE said, in a bid to ensure a competitive bidding process and that the gasoline will have time to flow to local retailers ahead of the July 4 holiday, when gas prices typically peak for the summer.
Gas prices presently stand at a national average of $3.60 per gallon, according to AAA, an increase of 6 cents compared to the same point last year. Prices typically increase beginning on Memorial Day weekend, which marks the unofficial start of driving season.
President Joe Biden is seeking to bolster his performance in the polls, which, during his first term, has been closely tied to gas prices.
Summer gasoline demand could be especially high this season, according to AAA, which estimates that nearly 44 million travelers will be hitting the road this holiday weekend — or the second-highest number of travelers recorded since the organization first began gathering data in 2000.
Nonetheless, gas prices remain well below the record-high national average of $5.02 per gallon seen in June 2022, the result of higher-than-expected oil demand and the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Those prices, combined with the political pressure ahead of the November 2022 midterm elections, prompted Biden to order the sale of 180 million barrels of oil from the U.S. emergency stockpile — the largest and fastest drawdown since the stockpile’s creation in the 1970s.
Those releases did put some downward pressure on gas prices in the short term, but they also drained the stockpile to its lowest level in 40 years.
Since then, the Energy Department has struggled to refill the SPR under its buyback plan, which targets oil prices of $67 to $72 per barrel, which it later raised to $79.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that the release of gas from the Northeast stockpiles builds on Biden’s efforts “to lower gas and energy costs — including historic releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the largest-ever investment in clean energy.″