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Republican Leaders Critical Of Biden Releasing Barrels From Reserves

President Biden’s announcement last week of releasing 15 million barrels from oil reserves wasn’t warmly received from Montana’s Republican delegation.

U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., made the following comment to this newspaper last week, “President Biden’s decision today will put our strategic reserves at a 40-year low. This is a blatant pre-election stunt to bring down gas prices, but in the end will only deepen the financial and energy crises in which the country finds itself.”

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., released the statement, “The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is meant to be used as a last resort in emergency situations, not a bandaid solution for Biden and the Democrats’ anti-Made in America energy policies on the eve of midterm elections. The Democrats should focus less on political cover-ups and more on addressing the long-term solutions of these inflated prices at the pump.”

Biden announced the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve to respond to recent production cuts by OPEC+ nations.

Biden said that the U.S. government will restock the strategic reserve when oil prices are at $70 a barrel. He feels that will support domestic production by guaranteeing a baseline level of demand.

Daines sent a letter to the president on Thursday, Oct. 20, expressing deep concern over the depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and urged him to support more domestic energy production.

“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the world’s largest stockpile of emergency crude oil with the capacity to store 714 million barrels. The SPR has protected America from major supply disruptions and served as a vital windfall in the event of natural disasters and wars since its creation following the 1973 energy crises, but it was never intended to compensate for domestic policy shortcomings,” Daines wrote.

Daines and Rosendale have each been harsh critics of Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline.

“It’s only day one, and with the stroke of a pen, Biden has already taken steps to kill American energy projects like the Keystone XL Pipeline, which is critical to energy producing states like Montana,” Daines said in January 2021.

Rosendale made the statement in January 2021, “America’s energy sector is important to our economy and critical to our national security by helping make us energy independent. This pipeline means a lot for our country and Montana.” Daines urged Biden to reauthorize construction of Keystone last March.

“President Biden set us on a dangerous path when he decided to kill the Keystone XL pipeline on Day One in office,” Daines said in a press release. “What’s happening in Russia and Europe is a stark reminder of the need to support American energy development, not hinder it. Energy security is national security, and a global energy dominant America is a safer world. Biden must restart the Keystone XL pipeline now.”

First proposed in 2008, the 1,700 pipeline was planned to carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast.

After TC Energy announced its decision to terminate the project in June 2021, Rosendale said, “President Biden owes Montanans an explanation as to why he decided to pull the Keystone XL Pipeline permit. This killed a project that was going to be critical to Montana. The administration has reversed over a decade of planning for our local governments, cut funding for our school systems, and sacrificed the communities that were dependent on revenue from this project to get through the pandemic. We are already seeing the price of Biden’s war on energy independence, and I fear its impact will only get worse.”

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