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Examining efforts to bring down gas prices

Gas Prices
Posted at 6:17 PM, Mar 31, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-31 22:41:24-04

(WXYZ) — President Biden has announced plans to release millions of barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a move designed to bring down gas prices, but will it make a difference?

Joining us to talk about it in tonight's 7 UpFront segment is energy expert, author, and President of Rapidan Energy Group Robert McNally.

You can see the full interview in the video player above.

"There are few things more difficult for consumers and elected officials than soaring gasoline prices cause gasoline, oil, is the lifeblood of modern civilization," McNally says. "So the President just announced the biggest ever drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. It's big, but it's probably not big enough to give us permanent relief at the pump and the reason for that is the Russia problem. Russia is the world's largest exporter of oil and no matter how self-sufficient we are here with oil with our own production, that's a good thing, we cannot insulate ourselves from disruptions in the world oil market, and so as Russia attacks Ukraine and we look to sanction their oil, that's more oil than we can pull out of the SPR. So, unfortunately, as long as this war goes on and it escalates, the direction of oil prices is probably up."