Biden’s latest grand energy plan:

President Joe Biden is prepared to release more oil from the country’s strategic reserves if gas prices increase during the summer. //

The strategic petroleum reserve was set up for a purpose:

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the world's largest supply of emergency crude oil was established primarily to reduce the impact of disruptions in supplies of petroleum products and to carry out obligations of the United States under the international energy program. //

Dieter Schultz
6 hours ago edited

In a letter sent last month to energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, senior Republican politicians called on the administration to “ensure that the SPR is not abused for political purposes in this election year” and described Biden’s SPR release in 2022 as “a transparent attempt to influence the midterm elections”.

Discouraging the use of the SPR shouldn't be done by an appeal the the administration, it should be accomplished by law.

Sadly, I think we have too many laws but the use and abuse of the SPR by all administrations is one where Congress should be more specific about when the SPR can and can't be used as well as how to minimize the carrying costs by specifying firm requirements for buying on the cheap and selling when oil is dear.

Edit: Given that a few years ago we came very close to filling up US oil storage infrastructure, maybe we ought put a provision in the law to offer to let US oil producers use the SPR rather than building more of their own storage tanks.