US President Joe Biden orders release of oil reserves to help tackle global fuel crisis

Yesterday, US President Joe Biden announced the release of more than 180 million barrels of oil over the next six months in an effort to bring down the price of fuel across the world.

This means that more than 1 million barrels of oil a day will be distrubuted across the globe for the next six months - and they will come from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

This is the largest release of oil reserves from the US since 1974.

A statement from the White House read: "The world has never had a release of oil reserves at this 1 million per day rate for this length of time. This record release will provide a historic amount of supply to serve as bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up."

Following the announcement, global oil prices dropped in price, which have risen sharply since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

The price of Brent Crude fell by almost 5.4% to around $107 yesterday. This is a price drop of $32 from the highest point during March.

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The news could come as a relief to UK drivers who have seen prices continue to rise in recent weeks.

Despite the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement last week, RAC data revealed that savings made from cutting fuel duty by 5p have not been fully passed onto UK drivers.

A week after the Spring Statement, the average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts had dropped by only 3.5p per litre and 2.4p per litre for diesel. Drivers would have expected a 6p cut when taking into consideration the duty cut and VAT on top of this. 

With UK drivers wondering what the future holds for the industry, a petition to reduce fuel duty and help ease cost of living has reached the 100,000 mark - meaning that the topic could be debated in the House of Commons in the future.

The RAC’s head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes will be standing up for RAC members when discussing the price of fuel with MPs who wish to take part in the parliamentary debate following the success of the petition.

We also continue to work with officials in the Treasury and the Department for Business informing them of the latest pricing trends. RAC Drive will be keeping UK motorists up to date with any future developments. The RAC also produced advice to drivers on how to reduce fuel consumption when behind the wheel.

If you run out of fuel when out on the road, the RAC can help with its Breakdown Cover.