The United States said on Tuesday it would release 50 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves in a coordinated move with China, India, South Korea, Japan and Britain to cool prices after OPEC+ producers rebuffed calls for more crude.
The White House issued the statement after a source in the U.S. administration said Washington had been hashing out a plan with major Asian energy consumers to drive down prices from near three-year highs. Britain had not previously been mentioned.
U.S. President Joe Biden, facing low approval ratings amid rising inflation ahead of next year’s congressional elections, has repeatedly called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to pump more oil.
