麻豆影视

Business

    • Fighting gas prices, U.S. to release 50 million barrels of oil

    FILE - President Joe Biden speaks as he announces that he is nominating Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, during an event in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) FILE - President Joe Biden speaks as he announces that he is nominating Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, during an event in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
    Share
    WASHINGTON -

    U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered a record 50 million barrels of oil released from America's strategic reserve, aiming to bring down gasoline and other costs, in coordination with other major energy consuming nations including India, the United Kingdom and China.

    The U.S. action is focused on helping Americans coping with higher fuel and other prices ahead of Thanksgiving and winter holiday travel. Gasoline prices are at about $3.40 a gallon, more than 50% higher than a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association.

    "While our combined actions will not solve the problems of high gas prices overnight, it will make a difference," Biden promised in remarks at the White House. "It will take time, but before long you should see the price of gas drop where you fill up your tank."

    The government will begin to move barrels into the market in mid- to late-December. Gasoline usually responds at a lag to changes in oil prices, and administration officials suggested this is one of several steps toward ultimately bringing down costs.

    Oil prices had dropped in the days ahead of the announced withdrawals, a sign that investors were anticipating the moves that could bring a combined 70 million to 80 million barrels of oil onto global markets. But in trading after the announcement, prices shot up roughly 2% instead of falling.

    The market was expecting the news, and traders may have been underwhelmed when they saw the details, said Claudio Galimberti, senior vice president for oil markets at Rystad Energy.

    "The problem is that everybody knows that this measure is temporary," Galimberti said. "So once it is stopped, then if demand continues to be above supply like it is right now, then you're back to square one."

    Shortly after the U.S. announcement, India said it would release 5 million barrels from its strategic reserves. The British government confirmed it will release up to 1.5 million barrels from its stockpile. Japan and South Korea are also participating, and U.S. officials said it's the biggest coordinated release from global strategic reserves.

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman, Max Blain, said it was "a sensible and measured step to support global markets" during the pandemic recovery. Blain added that the country's companies will be authorized but not compelled to participate in the release.

    Despite all the optimistic statements, the actions by the U.S. and others risk counter moves by Gulf nations, especially Saudi Arabia, and by Russia. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have made clear they intend to control supply to keep prices high for the time being.

    As word spread in recent days of a coming joint release from U.S. and other countries' reserves, there were warnings from OPEC interests that those countries may respond in turn, reneging on promises to increase supplies in coming months.

    Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso was among Republicans who criticized Biden's announcement. The No. 3 Senate Republican said the underlying issue is restrictions on domestic production by the administration.

    "Begging OPEC and Russia to increase production and now using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are desperate attempts to address a Biden-caused disaster," Barrasso said. "They're not substitutes for American energy production."

    Biden has scrambled to reshape much of his economic agenda around the issue of inflation, saying that his recently passed $1 trillion infrastructure package will reduce price pressures by making it more efficient and cheaper to transport goods.

    Republican lawmakers have hammered the administration for inflation hitting a 31-year high in October. The consumer price index has soared 6.2% from a year ago -- the biggest 12-month jump since 1990.

    The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an emergency stockpile to preserve access to oil in case of natural disasters, national security issues and other events. Maintained by the Energy Department, the reserves are stored in caverns created in salt domes along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coasts. There are roughly 605 million barrels of petroleum in the reserve.

    The Biden administration argues that it is the right tool to help ease the supply problem. Americans used an average of 20.7 million barrels a day during September, according to the Energy Information Administration. That means that the release equals about two-and-a-half days of additional supply.

    "Right now, I will do what needs to be done to reduce the price you pay at the pump," Biden said at the White House.

    He said the administration also is looking into potential price gouging by gas companies squeezing customers while making money off the lowered oil costs. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, too, said U.S. companies are part of the problem, keeping production below prepandemic levels in order to increase profits.

    The coronavirus pandemic roiled energy markets everywhere. As it bore down and economic activity sank in April of last year, energy demand collapsed and oil futures prices turned negative. Energy traders did not want to get stuck with crude that they could not store. But as the economy recovered, production lagged and prices jumped to a seven-year high in October.

    U.S. production has not recovered. Energy Information Administration figures indicate that domestic production is averaging roughly 11 million barrels daily, down from 12.8 million before the pandemic.

    Americans are feeling the squeeze. For Matt Hebard of Agoura Hills, Calif., it's taking $80 to gas up his SUV. "Gas prices are definitely on everyone's minds right now," he said as he filled up at a station in his suburb northwest of Los Angeles.

    He hoped the president's move has a good long-term effect.

    Sy Amber, meanwhile, was en route to Las Vegas from his California home. Unhappily spending more money filling up his car, he said he didn't expect Biden's action to work and didn't agree with them.

    "I'm not happy with our president," he said.

    Republicans in Congress are pointing to Biden's efforts to minimize drilling and support renewable energy as a reason for the decreased production, though there are multiple market dynamics at play as fossil fuel prices are higher around the world.

    Biden and administration officials insist that tapping more oil from the reserve does not conflict with his climate goals, because this short-term fix meets a specific problem, while climate policies are a long-term answer over decades.

    They argue that the administration's push to boost renewable energy will eventually mean less dependence in the U.S. on fossil fuels. But that's a politically convenient argument -- in simple terms, higher prices reduce usage, and significantly higher gasoline prices could force Americans into less reliance on fossil fuels.

    The White House decision came after weeks of diplomatic negotiations. Biden and President Xi Jinping of China talked over steps to counter tight petroleum supplies in their virtual meeting earlier this month and "discussed the importance of taking measures to address global energy supplies," according to the White House.

    The Department of Energy will make the oil available from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in two ways; 32 million barrels will be released in the next few months and will return to the reserve in the years ahead, the White House said. An additional 18 million barrels will be part of a sale of oil that Congress authorized.

    ------

    AP writers Cathy Bussewitz and Charles Sheehan contributed from New York, Jill Lawless from London and Matthew Daly and Ellen Knickmeyer from Washington.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    The City of Calgary ended water restrictions for the city at a Sunday morning update.

    Canada

    • The City of Calgary ended water restrictions for the city at a Sunday morning update.

    • The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.

    • A man is facing numerous drug trafficking charges after Dufferin OPP seized a large assortment of drugs and weapons in Orangeville earlier this week.

    • Pasquale Monaco says he鈥檚 debating whether to keep renting out the two-bedroom basement apartment of the Montreal building he owns after it was flooded 鈥 again 鈥 in August, when the remnants of tropical storm Debby sent four feet of water rushing into the space.

    • Infectious disease physician Dr. Isaac Bogoch says whooping cough is most risky for unvaccinated infants, children and older people.

    • The London Police Service (LPS) is currently investigating a suspicious death in the east end.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    • The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have a nickname for the opposition鈥檚 end zone. They refer to it as the 鈥渃hicken box.鈥

    • Jonathan Aranda homered for the second consecutive game, helping Taj Bradley and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Saturday.

    • Kiefer Sherwood spent several nights last spring chasing Quinn Hughes around the ice and generally pestering the Vancouver Canucks.

    Autos

    Local Spotlight

    Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

    Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

    An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

    They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

    The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

    It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

    • Work crews have been busy in the British Columbia legislature over the summer, prying apart desks in the historic chamber and piling them up in hallways as they tried to work out how to fit in six more seats.

    • British Columbia's New Democrats and the B.C. Conservatives are set to take their election tours to Metro Vancouver cities today as the campaign enters its second day.

    • A six-year-old girl who was reported missing in northern B.C. earlier this week remains unaccounted for, and "significant resources from across the province" have joined in the search, police said Saturday.

    • One person has died following a shooting in Scarborough late last night.

    • Toronto police have arrested three people and they are looking for two others in connection with an alleged fraud that saw a man and his daughter bilked out of more than $18,000.

    • A man who was critically injured in an eight-vehicle pileup in Milton Friday has died of his injuries in hospital.

    • The City of Calgary ended water restrictions for the city at a Sunday morning update.

    • Nearly 100 Inglewood residents rallied Saturday afternoon in a continuing effort to save the Inglewood Aquatic Centre.

    • Nick Kolomyja reckons axe throwing may have saved his life.

    • Thousands participated in the 17th annual Canada Army Run Sunday in the capital's downtown.

    • Police are looking to speak with a female who was a passenger in a stolen vehicle that was recovered early Saturday morning in Kanata.

    • A body has been found in the vicinity where a woman went missing on the Ottawa River near Pembroke, Ont. while kayaking Tuesday night, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

    • Residents around Lac Pilon in the Laurentians are increasingly alarmed by the frequent sound of gunshots piercing the quiet of their community.

    • A 54-year-old man was found unconscious on the ground with his electric scooter in Sherbrooke, Estrie, at 2:50 a.m. from Saturday to Sunday, according to the Sherbrooke Police.

    • Last month鈥檚 massive water main break in Montreal鈥檚 Ville Marie borough has left the company Cirque Eloize reeling, with nearly 10,000 items from their storage facility destroyed.

    • The number of Edmontonians experiencing homelessness has risen 47 per cent this year, according to data from the city's main housing agency.

    • The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have a nickname for the opposition鈥檚 end zone. They refer to it as the 鈥渃hicken box.鈥

    • Nick Kolomyja reckons axe throwing may have saved his life.

    • The Celtic Colours International Festival will return to Cape Breton, N.S., for nine days from Oct. 11 to 19, with hundreds of events and performances scheduled to take place in communities around the island.

    • A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.

    • A 76-year-old man who was reported missing Saturday in Annapolis District, N.S., has been found deceased.

    • The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

    • While slang may come and go, experts say the phenomenon behind them, which constantly churns out brand-new bon mots, is as old as language itself.

    • People living in Winnipeg鈥檚 Centennial neighbourhood have a new park to call their own. On Saturday, the community celebrated the grand opening of Giizhigooweyaabikwe Park on Lizzie Street.

    • Fire officials are investigating after a fire completely destroyed the community fridge in the Cathedral neighborhood.

    • The last two months after losing her daughter Bella have been extremely difficult for Kyla Thomson.

    • Regina police arrested three youths in connection to a bear mace incident at a Regina high school on Friday.

    • Brantford, Ont. residents were met with an unexpected sight on Saturday evening as a suspected funnel cloud appeared in the skies above the city.

    • Police were called to a business in the area of University Avenue East and Weber Street North at around 10:40 p.m. Saturday for a report of a man attempting to stab another man.

    • Police said the pedestrian, a 52-year-old man, was taken to an out-of-region hospital with life-threatening injuries and the driver of the vehicle failed to remain at the scene.

    • A 14-year-old girl from Flying Dust First Nation was killed after a high-speed ATV struck a ditch near Meadow Lake.

    • The 75-year-old building, formerly the Waskesiu Chamber of Commerce building, was relocated to the Parks Canada compound on the edge of the townsite.

    • A 53-year-old woman from north Vancouver, B.C. was killed after a semi and truck collided on Highway 16 near Dafoe.

    • video

      video

      The most popular hockey podcasters on the planet brought some major attention to the Forest City this weekend with the annual Chiclets Cup.

    • The identity of a motorcyclist has been revealed by loved ones on social media following Friday鈥檚 fatal south end collision in London. The London Police Service has not released anything regarding the driver鈥檚 identity.

    • A new report shows young immigrants in London are succeeding in post-secondary education.

    • One person is dead after a crash in Caledon on Sunday.

    • The Barrie Skateboard Association (BSA) hosted a unique competition at the City's Skate Park on Saturday to celebrate its 25th anniversary, which showcased the park's importance and the growth of skateboarding in the region.

    • Police located and arrested a male suspect Saturday evening in relation to an alleged assault incident that occurred earlier this week in Gooderham.

    • Windsor firefighters had an early start to the day as a fire broke out in the 1500 block of Pellissier Street in the city.

    • video

      video

      The Amherstburg Uncommon Festival is living up to its name with the addition of a drone light show 鈥 a first for Essex County.

    • The Chatham-Kent Police Service (CKPS) has arrested a man following an incident on Saturday.

    • British Columbia's New Democrats and the B.C. Conservatives are set to take their election tours to Metro Vancouver cities today as the campaign enters its second day.

    • A man who was found dead behind a curling rink in Nanaimo, B.C., earlier this month was the victim of a homicide, police confirmed.

    • A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls 鈥 including one that gave birth to 10 puppies 鈥 from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • Despite the heavy rain, plenty of muscle turned up for United Way鈥檚 annual Pull the Bus fundraiser in Lethbridge Friday.

    • Lethbridge County has rescinded its fire restriction as a result of the recent cool, wet weathr.

    • The Lethbridge Hurricanes kicked off the 2024-25 season on a winning note Friday night, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-1 in a game played at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

    • A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.

    • Following an outbreak of COVID-19 on its continuing care floor and just ahead of the flu season, St. Joseph鈥檚 General Hospital in Elliot Lake has opted to re-introduce a universal masking policy until further notice.

    • A 26-year-old driver from Surrey, B.C., has been charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm in a crash that killed two youths in northern Ontario last year.

    N.L.

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at 麻豆影视. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.聽Read about us.

    Stay Connected
    Follow 麻豆影视