EXPLAINER: What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

By DAVID KOENIG and CATHY BUSSEWITZ
AP Business Writers

DALLAS (AP) — President Joe Biden is again dipping into the nation’s petroleum stockpile to try to corral rising energy prices. The White House announced Thursday that Biden ordered the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the strategic petroleum reserve for the next six months. The administration hopes that tapping the petroleum reserve will buy time and tamp down gasoline prices long enough until domestic producers can boost output. It’s the third time Biden has turned to the strategic petroleum reserve in a little over four months. Tapping the reserve among the few things a president can do alone to try to control inflation.