Speaking to reporters at the White House Tuesday afternoon, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked why an emergency supply of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is being sent to foreign countries while Americans struggle with high prices as the gas pump. She claimed she wasn't aware of the situation.
"There's a Reuters report out this morning that says that more than 5 million barrels of oil that were released from the emergency oil reserves were exported to Europe and Asia last month, and some of it, reportedly, was actually heading to China. Is the administration aware of those reports? And does the president mind that some of this oil that was meant to ease paying for consumers is headed overseas?" a reporter asked.
"I have not seen that report, so I would honestly have to go look into it and see what, what the truth is in that, in that statement that you just laid out and see exactly what's happening. I just have not seen that report," Jean-Pierre responded.
Karine Jean-Pierre doesn’t know that millions of barrels of oil released from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve have been sent to foreign countries. pic.twitter.com/B51kV5XFC6
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 5, 2022
Back in March, President Joe Biden announced the release of one million barrels of oil per day from the SPR and claimed it would help the American people. Since then, gas prices have only gone up while setting a number of records.
BREAKING: Pres. Biden announces he has authorized the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the strategic reserve to combat rising gas prices. https://t.co/Wnvz0e9BLD pic.twitter.com/60BMHQOSnH
— ABC News (@ABC) March 31, 2022
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