US President Joe Biden has announced the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the United States strategic reserve, part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations.
"With my announcement today, we are going to continue to stabilise markets and decrease the prices at a time when the actions of other countries have caused such volatility," Biden told reporters during a news conference.
Biden said the 15 million barrels are set to be delivered in December.
The administration also announced USD 2.8 billion in grants to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and the electrical grid.
During his remarks, Biden took a dig at China, saying the country has controlled nearly half of global production on battery components and critical material, but that doesn't mean their technology is better.
"China's battery technology is not more innovative than anyone else's," Biden said. "In fact, our national labs, our research universities, our automakers led the development of this technology here in America."
He added that China holds a "significant portion of the market" because of unfair subsidies and trade practices.
The US president also rejected criticism that his move of releasing reserves was politically motivated as the White House aims to bring down gas prices with just a few weeks until the midterm elections.
"It's not politically motivated at all...It's motivated to make sure I continue to push on what I have been pushing on, and that's making sure there's enough oil that's being pumped by the companies so that we have the ability to be able to produce enough gas that we need here at home, and at the same time keep moving in a direction of providing for alternative energy," Biden told reporters.
President Biden from the podium called on American companies to increase domestic oil production and to pass on their massive profits to consumers.
"So far, American oil companies are using that windfall to buy back their own stock, passing that money on to shareholders, not consumers," he said.
"My message to all companies is this: you're sitting on record profits. And we're giving you more certainty. You can act now to increase oil production. You should not be using your profits to buy back stock or for dividends - not while the war is raging."
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