U.S. Rep.  Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, and U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Oklahoma, oppose the Biden Administration’s decision to release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in an attempt to lower gas prices.

“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is supposed be used during genuine national emergencies not as a mechanism to reduce the price of gasoline,” said Cole. “If the Biden Administration wants to lower gasoline prices, it should end its war on the American oil and gas industry. It could do so by reversing its decision to limit new exploration and production on federal lands and authorizing construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Trump Administration showed that when domestic production of oil and gas is encouraged, robust economic growth and low gasoline prices can also exist simultaneously.

“The high prices Americans are paying at the pump are directly attributable to the Biden Administration’s decision to punish the domestic oil and gas industry. That is exactly the wrong approach. In the end, all it does is raise energy costs all Americans are forced to pay, contribute to rapidly rising inflation and make the United States dangerously dependent on foreign countries and producers for its energy needs.”

“In just two years, the United States has gone from energy independent and net exporter to energy dependent. After canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and greenlighting Russia’s Nord Stream II, President Biden is now tapping our strategic reserves and imploring OPEC to produce more oil to mitigate a self-inflicted energy crisis” said Lucas.

“Right now, Americans are struggling with soaring gas prices and rising heating costs. American energy security and independence is essential to our national security and the economic security of every single American family.

“The decision to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not a sustainable nor responsible policy solution. It’s time to put American energy first and embrace an all-of-the above energy strategy- one that ensures American energy independence and economic prosperity for all Americans.”