The United States Is Moving Closer To Deciding To Join The Global Oil Exemption As Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Causes A Spike In Gas Prices At Home

The total number of barrels released worldwide could range from 50 million to 60 million barrels, senior officials and others familiar with the matter said, although sources warned that the decision was not yet finalized and discussions were still ongoing. Tuesday morning.

Other allies are expected to dive into their reserves in a coordinated effort to reduce energy costs amid Russia’s ongoing invasion. These include Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands and other major European countries, as well as Japan and South Korea.

The invasion of Ukraine has raised fears of disruptions in supplies from Russia, the world’s No. 2 oil producer. Brent oil prices closed above $ 100 a barrel on Monday for the first time since 2014. U.S. crude and Brent jumped another 5 percent on Tuesday, even as the International Energy Agency meets to discuss a response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

High oil prices have raised petrol pump prices to seven-year highs. The average for regular gasoline for the country rose to $ 3.62 on Tuesday, about 9 cents a week and 24 cents a month, according to the AAA. At some point, energy prices can become so expensive that they undermine consumer demand and slow down the economy more broadly.

U.S. officials have spent the past few weeks talking and meeting with partners from key energy-supplying countries in an effort to secure commitments to fill any market disruptions. The effort included a personal visit to Saudi Arabia by two senior administration officials to discuss the need to address the impact on oil markets. The United States informed Saudi Arabia before the announcement of the oil reserve.

The White House has not made any specific commitments, and White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined to say whether there was a specific request to increase supplies when asked at a briefing this week.

Biden signaled his intention to release oil last week.

“We are working actively with countries around the world to assess the collective release of strategic oil reserves of major energy-intensive countries. And the United States will release additional barrels of oil if conditions require,” he said.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency is holding a last-minute meeting Tuesday on oil supplies to “stabilize markets”, he said earlier this week. The meeting will be chaired by US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

The use of the reserve – a stockpile of 600 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground salt caves in Louisiana and Texas – usually has only a limited effect on gas prices because of how much oil can be released at a time but would act as a political sign. that Biden is facing the problem.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth voiced support Tuesday for governments to release emergency oil stocks to offset fears of supplies sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I think a coordinated response from multiple countries can help in the short term,” Wirth said in response to a question from CNN during a briefing with reporters. “Of course, we saw markets on the edge with concerns about supply and security of supply.”

Wirth expressed confidence that there would be no serious supply disruptions.

“I have seen nothing to indicate that either Russia’s intentions or the intentions of the governments involved in the sanctions would be to limit oil supplies,” Wirth said. “In fact, the opposite is true. It seems to me that people have been very careful to signal that their intention is to try to maintain the world’s energy supply that needs it.”

This story has been updated with additional reports.

CNN’s Matt Egan contributed to this report.