Biden’s Oil Market Play — and Lessons Learned

After grappling with uncomfortably high oil prices for more than a year, the administration of US President Joe Biden is looking to solidify the US government’s role in oil markets. The White House has tried to keep prices from soaring with a combination of cajoling private producers at home, diplomatic jawboning, releasing record-level government stocks from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) into the market, and working to implement a cap on Russian oil prices designed to keep volumes flowing but limit Moscow's revenues. In its latest move, the administration is trying to reassure private producers there will be a market for their output — even if demand falls.