President Biden announces plan to combat rising gas prices
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — President Joe Biden announced a plan Wednesday to release 15 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's emergency supply in an attempt to keep gas prices from rising.
The cost to fill up the tank has been a big focal point ahead of the midterm elections, but the president says the decision isn't politically motivated.
Current gas prices could hold steady thanks to the president's decision to sell off more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by the end of the year.
"It's certainly going to keep it from going up much over the next 30 days," said Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at the SMU Cox School of Business.
The move could even bring gas prices slightly down.
"Maybe a few cents, maybe 10 cents," Armbruster said. "At the very best, keeping prices from going back up."
This is the last of the 180 million barrels President Biden authorized to sell back in March, when gas prices started soaring as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Experts say the releases have been helping.
"Two things have kept the price of oil down," Bullock said. "One is fear of a recession, and two is the amount of oil that we've been able to take out of the SPR."
The price of gas in Texas hit an all-time high this summer, but it has mostly been going down since then.
"In the last week, here in Dallas, we've seen the price come down to $3.30, so we've seen a 8-cent drop for regular unleaded over the past week," said Daniel Armbruster with AAA Texas.
This oil release could hold off price increases in the short term, according to Bullock.
"Over the next 30 to 45 days, enjoy it while you can," he said. "Beyond that, it's very, very difficult to tell which way the market will go."