"The president today is announcing that the Department of Energy will provide access to 50 million barrels of oil from the strategic oil reserve to lower prices for Americans and close the mismatch between demand emerging from the pandemic and supply," the Biden administration said.
American consumers are feeling the impact of higher fuel prices "at gas stations and on their home heating bills," as the statement says, as are American businesses.
The reason for this is that the supply of oil is not keeping up with demand against the backdrop of the global economy recovering from the pandemic, according to Washington.