Joe Biden announces release of 60 million barrels of strategic reserves
Joe Biden announces release of 60 million barrels of strategic reserves : US President Joe Biden announced Tuesday night that the US and 30 other countries have reached an agreement to release 60 million barrels of strategic oil reserves to offset the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Tonight, I can announce that the US has worked with 30 other countries to release 60 million barrels of reserves around the world. The US will lead this effort,” he said.
Half of the volume will come from reserves controlled by the US government.
Brent contracts on the international market are traded above US$ 110, a level that has not been seen since before the 2015 crisis, when the price of the commodity plummeted .
This causes new global inflationary pressure, which goes beyond energy and affects minerals and agricultural products, while countries are still dealing with the effects of the recovery and economic stimulus created after the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic.
Global companies vow to leave Russia business
According to information from Reuters , global traders are already avoiding doing business with Russian oil, even without the imposition of direct sanctions on exports of the commodity from the country.
As the conflict intensifies in Ukraine, oil companies, energy, gas , shipping and other sectors have announced that they will stop doing business in the country.
Equinor, bp, Shell and, most recently, ExxonMobil have announced that they have left the country's multi-billion dollar businesses.
China, however, a major importer of commodities, however, rejects sanctions on Russia's economy .
Fossils vs Renewables in American Politics
The oil supply crisis, in turn, drives American policy.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), the main global industry association, which operates in the US, calls for the resumption of the expansion of supply of areas and government actions to accelerate domestic production and the expansion of infrastructure.
Biden was elected, however, on a 'green reconstruction' platform.
This Tuesday (1st), Biden defended concessions of tax credits for investments in energy efficiency, increasing the production of solar and wind energy and reducing the prices of electric cars.
“We are going to cut energy costs for families,” he said.
The strategy, in the speech, was to frame fossil fuels as a more expensive source, subject to international volatility.
As much as the White House has been working to pressure OPEC+ to increase the supply of oil and help inflation, internally, it continues to defend that the American economy needs to reduce dependence on the commodity by making the transition to new sources.
The loss of purchasing power of American consumers hits hard on Biden's popularity, who took over a fragmented country after the 2020 elections, which ended with the invasion of the capitol by protesters instigated by Donald Trump .
"We will use every tool at our disposal to protect American businesses and consumers," Biden said after announcing new sanctions.
Speech to US Congress Targets Putin and Sanctions
Biden gave the annual speech before the joint session of the US Congress – the State of The Union. Faced with the crisis in Eastern Europe, the message was directed to Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.
The event was attended by members of Ukrainian diplomacy on the floor of the US Senate; some lawmakers wore props and flags in the colors of Ukraine, which is facing Russian troop advances on the capital Kiev and other regions.
According to the Democratic president, the mobilization of American troops will be restricted to NATO members, without sending soldiers to fight the Russians in Ukrainian territories.
The focus, he says, will be actions to hit the Russian economy and Moscow's ability to finance the war.
To applause from Democrats and Republican opponents, Biden announced that the US will target Russian oligarchs' assets and businesses, impede efforts by the Russian Central Bank to preserve the ruble's value and lock the country out of the international financial system.
“We're going to confiscate your yachts, your private jets,” Biden said.
The "oligarchs" are the name given to the group of businessmen who took control of key sectors of the Russian economy after the end of the Soviet Union, including energy, oil and gas, during Putin's two decades of power.
