Angelenos saw a slight decrease in gas prices one day after President Joe Biden announced he would tap into the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve to help increase the country’s oil supply.
Gas prices have skyrocketed to record levels since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine left the world scrambling to replace oil shipments.
The president said Thursday he would release a record 180 million barrels from the nation’s reserve.
The plan is to supply 1 million barrels a day for 180 days.
The shipments will “provide a historic amount of supply for a historic amount of time,” Biden said.
Gas prices in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area dropped 2 cents overnight to about $6.02 for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to AAA’s website.
There is also concern that the downward price trend is only temporary, as the amount of supply in the strategic reserve is limited.
Biden is betting that other sources of oil will ramp up supply in the coming months.
Still, the price is $2.07 higher than it was a year ago, when a gallon of gas cost $3.95.
“This is a war time bridge to increase oil supply until production ramps up later this year,” Biden said.