Letter to Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States - To Fight Inflation & Help Consumers and Businesses, U.S. Senators Urge Biden to Tap Diesel Fuel Reserve

Letter

Dear President Biden:

We appreciate your decision to release millions of barrels of oil from the federal stockpile, which is increasing gasoline supply. Yet, as Putin's war in Ukraine continues to push oil prices higher, and Big Oil continues to price gouge American consumers, we urge you to take further action to insulate Americans from rising prices, including tapping into the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR).

The Department of Energy created the NEHHOR in 2000 following a significant spike in the price of home heating oil. The NEHHOR currently holds one million barrels of refined product that can be used as heating oil or diesel fuel. While much more will be needed to address the full scope of the oil supply crunch, we believe utilizing the NEHHOR is a useful tool to help address projected increases in home heating oil costs as well as record-high prices for diesel fuel.

The cost of home heating oil is expected to rise again this winter, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration projecting a 21% increase from December 2021 to December 2022. In addition, U.S. diesel fuel prices have reached record-high levels and may go even higher this summer. Last month the national average price for diesel was over $5.50 per gallon -- a 75% increase from a year ago. These increased costs impact everyone -- from the farmers who use diesel-powered machinery to the trucks that transport goods to the people who buy those products.

We know that to truly lower costs in the long term, we must make the transition to clean energy and break our reliance on oil and hostile foreign actors. To that end, we were proud to support the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, championed by your administration, which will invest billions in public transit, electric vehicles, and clean energy projects. We must also enact your clean energy plan that includes tax credits and grants that would make clean energy, clean vehicles, and other clean technologies more affordable and competitive.

Yet, as we work toward that goal, we hope you will consider using all tools at your disposal, including issuing a release from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, to ease this diesel supply crunch and lower home energy costs for American families.

Thank you for your continued leadership on this important issue.

Sincerely,

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