China News Agency, Washington, March 31 (Reporter Chen Mengtong) US President Biden announced at the White House on March 31 that 1 million barrels of strategic oil reserves will be released per day in the next six months to deal with the soaring energy prices caused by the situation in Ukraine.

　　"This is a moment of great impact and crisis on the world, a moment when an American family can feel the pain from the gas station." Biden said when announcing the decision that day.

　　Senior White House officials said at a briefing on the same day that this was the largest release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in U.S. history.

The Biden administration hopes this "record supply" will provide a "wartime" transition to expanding domestic oil production by the end of the year.

　　The United States established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve System in 1975, with legislation authorizing the president to release oil reserves in the event of "serious energy supply disruptions."

As of March 25, the U.S. strategic oil reserve stood at 568.3 million barrels, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

　　Under the dual pressure of domestic inflation in the United States and the situation in Ukraine, domestic energy prices in the United States have continued to rise in the past three months.

According to data from the American Automobile Association on the same day, the average gasoline price in the United States increased by 1.3 US dollars from a year ago, reaching 4.225 US dollars.

　　The U.S. sanctions against Russia, including an energy embargo, further exacerbated the rise in domestic oil prices.

The United States on March 8 announced a ban on imports of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal.

Throughout March, the average national gasoline price rose by more than 60 cents.

　　"High oil prices hurt Biden's domestic approval ratings." The Associated Press pointed out that the White House's actions show that oil remains a weakness in the United States.

　　In addition to increasing oil supply in the short term, Biden also called on US energy production companies to expand production capacity as soon as possible.

He said no American business should take advantage of the pandemic or the Ukraine crisis to profit at the expense of American families.

"This is not the time to sit on record profits."

　　The U.S. oil and gas industry has more than 9,000 unused but approved production licenses on federal lands, the White House said.

The Biden administration will push for ways such as charging idle oil fields to stimulate companies to increase production capacity in the short term.

　　According to White House estimates, U.S. domestic oil production will increase by 1 million barrels per day this year and another 700,000 barrels per day in 2023.

　　In response to the upward pressure on domestic oil prices, the Biden administration has released 50 million barrels and 30 million barrels of strategic oil reserves in November last year and early March this year, respectively.

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