President Joe Biden ordered the United States to release roughly 1 million barrels of crude oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the next six months, an unprecedented drawdown of as much as 180 million barrels intended to buffer consumers and the economy from a global supply shock intensified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The action announced Thursday is the largest sustained release in the reserve’s history. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a Department of Energy statement that the drawdown is meant to provide a “wartime bridge” while domestic and international production adjusts to the disruption in global oil flows. The department followed Friday with a new emergency notice of sale to begin moving additional crude from federal storage into the market.

The decision comes as the national average price of regular gasoline remains above $4 a gallon. AAA reported Thursday that the national average had eased to about $4.22 after reaching a record $4.33 on March 11, but it remained sharply higher than a month and a year earlier. The rapid increase has become one of the most visible household effects of the wider inflation surge and the war in Ukraine.

A release sized to matter in a global market

One million barrels per day is large by the standards of past emergency releases but modest compared with world petroleum consumption. The scale is nevertheless significant because oil prices are set in a global market where relatively small changes in expected supply can move futures prices and, over time, retail fuel costs. The Washington Post reported that the daily release would equal roughly 1% of world petroleum consumption and about 5% of U.S. petroleum use.

The administration’s argument is that a predictable six-month flow can reduce the risk premium created by uncertainty over Russian exports while giving U.S. producers time to increase output. Biden described the program as a bridge rather than a permanent source of supply. Oil from the reserve cannot replace production indefinitely; once withdrawn, the emergency stockpile is smaller and ultimately must be managed or replenished.

The reserve held about 568 million barrels in late March, according to federal data cited in contemporaneous reporting. A full 180 million-barrel draw would represent nearly one-third of that inventory. The magnitude underscores both the administration’s concern about current market conditions and the tradeoff inherent in using strategic stocks to address a price and supply crisis whose duration is uncertain.

Allies move toward another coordinated release

The U.S. move is part of a broader effort among major consuming nations. On Friday, the International Energy Agency said its 31 member countries had unanimously agreed to a second collective release of emergency oil stocks in response to market turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion. Details of the volume were still being assembled, but the decision followed a March action in which member countries pledged 62.7 million barrels.

Coordinated releases can have more influence than a unilateral draw because the global crude market responds to the combined supply available to refiners and traders. The United States is contributing by far the largest announced volume, but additional barrels from Europe and Asia can reinforce the signal that consuming countries are willing to use emergency inventories to counter a severe disruption.

DOE had already been executing prior releases. In March, the department announced contract awards from an earlier emergency sale, part of a series of actions begun before the latest 180 million-barrel commitment. The new program is different in scale and duration: rather than a discrete sale, it establishes a sustained daily flow through the summer and into the fall.

Oil supply, not just refining, is the immediate target

The administration cannot directly set gasoline prices. Pump prices reflect crude costs, refining capacity, transportation, taxes, inventories and local competition. The policy therefore attacks the largest and most volatile input by increasing crude available to the market. Associated Press reporting carried by PBS quoted Biden saying that lower gasoline prices require more oil supply now.

Market reaction began even before the formal announcement. Oil futures declined as traders absorbed reports of the planned drawdown. That immediate movement does not guarantee a lasting reduction at the pump, because crude prices remain exposed to war developments, sanctions, OPEC+ production decisions and demand. But it shows why the administration is using a release schedule that is large enough to influence expectations rather than relying on a one-time symbolic draw.

The domestic production side of the strategy is also politically contested. Biden called on U.S. oil producers to increase output and urged Congress to consider fees on companies holding federal leases without producing. Industry representatives argue that investment decisions depend on labor, equipment, financing, infrastructure and regulatory certainty, not simply on the number of leases held. Those debates will continue while the reserve release proceeds.

A strategic asset becomes an economic-policy tool

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created after the 1970s oil shocks to reduce the economic and national-security damage of major supply interruptions. The present use fits that broad mission because Russia is a major oil exporter and the invasion has disrupted trade, finance, shipping and expectations of future supply. At the same time, the administration is explicitly emphasizing consumer fuel prices, making the drawdown a central part of its response to inflation.

The distinction matters because the reserve is finite. Drawing it down can reduce near-term scarcity but also lowers the amount available for a future emergency. The administration is betting that a six-month bridge is justified by the extraordinary conditions in the oil market and that supply will be better balanced by the time the release winds down.

For households, the test will be visible on service-station signs. For policymakers, the standard is broader: whether the release stabilizes crude markets, reduces the economic shock of disrupted Russian supply and buys enough time for production and demand to adjust without creating a new vulnerability in the emergency reserve. The United States has now committed the largest volume in the SPR’s history to that calculation.