Missouri may see gas prices fall following Biden’s historic oil reserve withdrawal
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Experts in the energy sector say it's too soon to tell exactly how President Joe Biden's plan will affect gas prices, but nationwide they're already starting to drop.
Biden announced a historically large withdrawal from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve Thursday. At 1 million barrels a day, Biden plans to release 180 million barrels over the next six months in the hopes of lowering gas prices for consumers and incentivizing oil companies to produce more. This will be the biggest release from the reserve in American history.
Nick Chabarria with AAA Missouri said gas prices are so affected by things like the conflict between Russia and Ukraine because crude oil, which makes up 50-60% of the gas price, is a global market. That also means prices can fluctuate for a variety of reasons.
"Not necessarily like tomorrow, gas prices are going to come down to what they were prior to the Russia Ukraine conflict," Chabarria said. "But, you know, again, it's going to take some time just to see what kind of impact that this release is going to have for drivers."
Although Missourians' wallets still hurt, Missouri currently has the lowest gas prices in the country.
"They're high in Missouri, they're high everywhere else as well," Chabarria said. "But, you know, Missouri drivers, you know, fortunately paying some of the cheapest prices."
Victor McFarland is an associate professor of history specializing in energy, the environment and the Middle East.
"The idea [of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve] is that the United States should have a large reserve of oil, waiting in case there were political emergencies or national natural disasters or anything that disrupted the flow of oil, that there would be this reserve that the US can tap into to make it through the crisis," McFarland said.
McFarland said oil prices have already fallen around 5% nationwide just since Biden's announcement, showing the plan to bring prices down for consumers is working. However, McFarland warns the large withdrawal could cause issues in the future.
"That's going to be less oil available in case something unexpected comes along a big natural disaster, a war in the Middle East," McFarland said. "If the war in Ukraine gets worse and Russian oil exports were totally cut off, which they haven't been yet. If any of those things happen, then we'll want as much oil in the SPR as possible and we might regret taking some of it out earlier."
