- EU talks deportation hubs to stem migration
- Deaths and repression sideline Suu Kyi's party ahead of Myanmar vote
- S. Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Zelensky on whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Lindor powers Mets past Phillies into NL Championship Series
- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
- Zelensky to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Israel captain says 'difficult' to focus on football in time of war
- Macron to host Ukraine's Zelensky after meeting Ukrainian troops
- Root says 'many more to get' after England Test runs landmark
Biden says unprecedented use of oil stockpile will ease US fuel costs 'pain'
President Joe Biden announced Thursday a record release from US strategic oil reserves to "ease the pain" of soaring domestic fuel prices, saying the "wartime" measure will defuse Russia's leverage as an energy power.
Biden laid out the giant release -- a million barrels of US government oil every day for six months -- in a speech where he blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for causing fuel cost increases and also accused big oil companies of putting profits ahead of the national interest.
The bold measure, by far the biggest use of the strategic stockpile in history, aims to cool down the overheated global oil market and calm inflationary shockwaves ripping through the American economy.
In addition to the main US contribution, other countries have agreed to dip into their own reserves in a coordinated approach, the White House said, without saying which nations were participating.
"It will provide a historic amount of supply for a historic amount of time," Biden said, calling the use of reserves a "wartime bridge" to get the country through until oil companies ramp up production.
In the meantime, the daily US oil injection will "ease the pain that families are feeling," Biden said.
Struggling with bad poll numbers and November's looming midterm elections, when Republicans are forecast to take over Congress from the Democrats, the president is scrambling to distance himself from the spiralling prices -- and show he has solutions.
The Democrat called cost increases the "Putin price hike," underlining that the attack on Ukraine by top energy producer Russia, followed by Western sanctions, caused the surge.
Allies are "coming together to deny Putin the ability to weaponize his energy resources against American families, and families and democracies around the world," he said.
Biden also aimed strikingly tough comments at oil companies, which he said were hoarding supply.
"This is not the time to sit on record profits," he said. "Provide some relief for your customers, not investors and executives."
Oil prices fell sharply even on initial reports of the plan, which came as the OPEC+ group of petroleum exporters decided to raise output only modestly despite the jump in crude prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Congressional Republicans were unimpressed by Biden's move, issuing a statement that the oil reserves were not meant to be used as a "political Hail Mary" and only in "national security emergencies and major weather events."
- Fallout from Russia sanctions -
The release dwarfs earlier uses of the strategic stockpile announced by the Biden administration in tandem with other countries on March 1 following the Russian attack, and also last year in response to rising inflation.
Despite a strongly rebounding economy and rapidly receding Covid-19 pandemic, Biden is getting little credit from voters, who instead blame him for rising prices everywhere from the supermarket to car dealerships.
Supply chain snags related to the different pace of economic recoveries around the world are part of the inflation phenomenon. Also underlying the politically perilous trend are ever higher fuel costs, which in turn push up prices for transport of almost all goods.
For US motorists, the price shock as they fill cars is a constant irritation. "I did this," reads a sticker featuring a picture of Biden that has been fixed next to pump handles in many stations.
Gasoline prices currently stand at an average of $4.23 a gallon, up 47 percent from their level a year ago.
Oil prices surged close to $140 a barrel in March. Prices have retreated somewhat since the United States banned Russian energy imports on March 8, but have lingered above $100 a barrel most of the subsequent period.
M.A.Colin--AMWN