President Joe Biden faced intense pressure last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent gasoline prices soaring. Voters, already angry over skyrocketing inflation for everyday products, demanded relief at the pump as the crucial midterm elections approached that could swing the Congressional power from Democrats to Republicans.
In the end, Biden decided to intervene by tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which was created in the wake of the 1973-74 oil embargo for use in emergencies. His administration released 180 million barrels of oil—the most in U.S. history—from the network of underground salt caves in Louisiana and Texas that makes up the SPR.
