Unleashing oil to fight “Putin’s price hike”

Biden will unleash 180 million barrels of oil to curb inflation; Putin demands payment for Russian gas in rubles. 

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

The biggest oil reserve release ever

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

• The Biden administration has announced it will release 1 million barrels of oil per day from US oil reserves for the next six months to curb soaring gas prices that have spiked amid the Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. [Associated Press / Zeke Miller and Josh Boak]
• The White House also said it would use the Defense Production Act to ramp up rare mineral mining for materials necessary for building electric car batteries.[Washington Post / Tyler Pager and Jeff Stein] 
• The Biden administration also plans to encourage increased production by making “companies pay fees on wells from their leases that they haven’t used in years and on acres of public lands that they are hoarding without producing,” a plan that would require congressional approval. [The Hill / Rachel Frazin and Morgan Chalfant]
• Gas prices have been on the rise due to increasing inflation and fears that Russia could restrict supply as Western countries sanction it over its invasion of Ukraine. [BBC]
• Republicans are placing blame for higher costs on Biden’s shoulders while the Democrats blame “Putin’s price hike” — and accuse oil and gas companies of taking advantage of the situation to fatten profit margins. [National Public Radio]
• The US strategic reserve — about 550 million barrels stored in underground salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana — is intended to help protect the country from price swings. By the end of 2022, the Biden administration will have released more than 180 million barrels. [New York Times / Michael D. Shear]
• The US has twice released strategic oil reserves in recent months, but the moves had little effect on prices. The administration claims the latest release will have a more positive impact, because it’s focused on replacing supply lost to the global market as countries scramble to replace Russian suppliers. [CNN / Kevin Liptak and Kate Sullivan]

Putin demands payment for Russian gas in rubles

• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Thursday demanding “unfriendly countries” pay for gas in rubles beginning April 1 to counter Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. [Reuters]
• While the United States has banned Russian oil and gas imports in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Europe hasn’t yet because the bloc is too dependent on Russian gas supply. [BBC / Michael Race]
• Putin wants the payments in rubles for two reasons: to prop up the currency, which is still recovering from falling sharply at the beginning of the invasion (though economists don’t think energy payments in rubles will help much) and to make life difficult for Europe as retribution for its sanctions. [Euronews / AP]
• Meanwhile, two of Russia’s biggest customers, Germany and France, rejected Putin’s request to pay in rubles because it violates their contract, which is in euros. Both countries said they were planning for the possibility that Russia shuts off supply. [France 24]
• Russia appeared to offer Europe an out Thursday as new details emerged: European countries can continue to pay for gas in euros, but will have to wait for state-owned Gazprombank to convert the money to rubles before receiving their gas. [Guardian / Rob Davies and Andrew Roth]

The Biden administration marked International Transgender Visibility Day on March 31, by announcing measures to support mental health and increase access to government services for transgender people. [NPR / Deepa Shivaram]

• On Thursday, David Weil became the first Biden appointee to fail on the Senate floor as three centrist Democrats sided with Republicans to tank his nomination to lead the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division. [Politico / Nick Niedzwiadek and Eleanor Mueller]
• Roughly 70,000 Russian computer specialists have fled the country since the war in Ukraine began. Other nations are hoping to gain workers from the mass exodus. [AP / Liudas Dapkus]
• Comedian Chris Rock said he’s “still kind of processing what happened” in his return to the stage after being slapped by Will Smith at the Academy Awards. [CNN / Chloe Melas]

“The bottom line is if we want lower gas prices, we need to have more oil supply right now.”

[President Biden delivers remarks on White House plan to unleash the nation’s oil reserves / CBS]

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