Tapping into the strategic diesel fuel reserve might be next up for President Joe Biden in his attempt to mitigate damage of supply shortages and rampant inflation.
The Biden administration is in talks to release diesel fuel to help curb shortages, a source told The Hill on Monday.
The official said a recommendation is coming from a team of advisers monitoring East Coast diesel supply.
"The team has prepared emergency declarations for [the] president to authorize release from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve if conditions deteriorate," the advisory panel told The Hill in a statement. "We would call this a bridge to deal with short-term supply shortfalls."
Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve holds about 1 million barrels of home heating oil since it was created in 2000. That would be merely one day's supply for the region, according to the White House.
The only time it was tapped was during the Obama administration in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast.
The White House is blaming this latest shortage on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, much like many of the administration's excuses for supply and inflation crises, according to the report.
"In recent weeks, the team noted a worrisome decline in diesel inventories in the Northeast [below 20 million barrels], as well as on-the-ground reports of supply issues, resulting from a lack of supply in part resulting from Putin's actions in Ukraine and the disruption in the energy market," the official told The Hill.
While the release of strategic reserves is a small amount and cannot help against inflation, the White House is fearing shortages as the country enters the hurricane season this summer and fall and heads into the winter months, The Hill reported.
Diesel prices hit a record high average of $5.58 per gallon last Wednesday, and has slightly fallen back to $5.55, AAA reported.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration data shows New England, which has fewer refineries, had a higher average price of $6.43 per gallon than the rest of the nation, according to the report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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