Many countries have gained and lost a lot of money from releasing oil reserves

On November 23, the United States and many countries announced the release of oil reserves to reduce oil prices, resulting in international oil prices rising instead of falling on the same day
.
Some analysts pointed out that the ultimate purpose of the US move is to alleviate inflation, but the release of reserves can only have a short-term effect, and there are many reasons for inflation, the United States may be difficult to achieve the goal, and may also worsen the relationship
with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The White House announced on November 23 that the U.
S.
Department of Energy will release 50 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to alleviate the supply-demand mismatch and reduce oil prices
.
The U.
S.
Department of Energy said the 50 million barrels of crude oil will be put on the market as early as mid-to-late December, of which 18 million barrels have been approved by Congress for direct sales, and the remaining 32 million barrels are short-term exchanges, and the strategic oil reserve
will be returned from 2022 to 2024 after oil prices stabilize.

On the same day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that he would cooperate with the United States' action to stabilize oil prices and release the country's strategic petroleum reserves
.
According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese government is expected to release 4.
2 million barrels of crude oil reserves
first.
The South Korean government also said on the same day that it decided to release oil reserves
based on factors such as high crude oil prices and the importance of the South Korea-US alliance.
South Korean media said the scale of the release may be the same as in 2011, at about
3.
5 million barrels.

In addition, in response to the US action, India announced that it would release 5 million barrels of oil reserves, and the United Kingdom also said that it would release about 1.
5 million barrels of oil reserves
.

After many countries announced the release of oil reserves, international oil prices rose instead of falling on the 23rd
.
As of the close of the day, the price of light crude oil futures for January 2022 on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2.
28%, and the price of Brent crude futures for January 2022 delivery in London rose by 3.
27%.

At present, the level of domestic inflation in the United States remains
high.
According to the American Automobile Association, the average price of gasoline in the United States is now more than 60%
higher than a year ago.
U.
S.
consumer price index (CPI) rose 6.
2 percent year-on-year in October, the biggest year-over-year increase
since November 1990, according to the U.
S.
Department of Labor.

Many analysts pointed out that the US government released oil reserves, on the one hand, to reduce oil prices, on the other hand, it also hoped to alleviate domestic inflation
.
However, international oil prices are not decided by the United States, and there are many reasons for inflation, and it remains to be seen
whether the United States can do as desired.

Judging from the scale of the release announced by several countries at present, the total amount of crude oil entering the market will be between 60 million and 70 million barrels, while the global average daily crude oil demand is about 100 million barrels
.
Relying on this amount of release to affect oil prices may be a bit of a drop in the bucket
.
Moreover, this release is only a short-term move, and it is difficult to fundamentally reverse the supply and demand state
of the international crude oil market.

In terms of domestic inflation, rising energy prices are just one of them, and large-scale fiscal stimulus, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages are all factors
that contribute to high inflation.
U.
S.
experts and the media generally predict that this round of inflation will continue for some time
.

Analysts believe that US President Joe Biden should also understand that the release of strategic petroleum reserves will not have an immediate effect, but the current high oil prices and high inflation have become the reasons for the Republican Party to attack the Biden administration, and Biden must take action
.
In addition to releasing oil reserves, the Biden administration has not relaxed its pressure on OPEC to increase oil production
.

However, at the 22nd Ministerial Meeting in early November, OPEC and non-OPEC producers decided to maintain the planned gradual increase in
production.
For the United States to jointly release oil reserves, OPEC only said that it may change the production increase plan
.
It is foreseeable that the game between the United States and OPEC around oil prices will continue under the condition that US inflation has not eased
.