Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not criticize President Biden’s Department of Energy’s massive oil purchase for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The DOE announced Monday that it would purchase 4.65 million barrels to replenish the SPR. This fund was created by the Biden Administration to help with the high gas prices.
The average cost of the oil purchased by the department was $77.
This administration has always put the security of American citizens’ economy and energy first. This is proof that the Biden-Harris Administration delivers on its plans for the American public,” said Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy.
“As promised we secured 180 million barrels of Strategic Petroleum Reserve that were released as a response to Putin’s War in Ukraine. We did this while getting the best deal for taxpayers, and maintaining the ready state of the largest Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the world.”
The oil purchase was not advertised heavily by the White House or the President. It went unnoticed by both Democratic and Republican legislators, as they were more focused on the investigation of the failures that led to Trump’s attempted assassination earlier this month.
The week saw the voting of two key pieces related to online safety and the potential expansion of the child tax credit.
Schumer’s Office did not comment on whether there was any difference between Trump’s and Biden’s purchases of oil for the SPR, and if the president “bails out” large oil firms in a similar way.
Trump’s administration wanted to include $3 billion to purchase oil at low prices to replenish the SPR during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020 in the $2 trillion pandemic stimulator package. In March 2020, oil was about $30 per barrel as the price trended downward. After significant opposition from Democrats, the Trump administration’s plan was eventually excluded from the final version of the legislation.
Roll Call reported that Schumer called the Trump administration’s request a “$3 Billion bailout for Big Oil”.
